“As soon as the vote total was announced, there were more than a dozen L.A. Times union supporters who burst out in applause — there was a lot of hugging and handshaking,” said Matt Pearce, a national reporter for the paper and a member of the organizing committee. “This newsroom has been through so much and been down such a long road. It’s taken so much work and we’ve been through so much turbulence. This is a signal that we are standing together and ready to head forward for the future.”

The organizing effort was galvanized in part by an abrupt change to employees’ vacation policy in 2016 that effectively eliminated accrued vacation days. Organizers called for more competitive salaries, annual raises, equal pay for women and minorities and lower health premiums, among other goals.

The next step for the union will be to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with management.

“We respect the outcome of the election and look forward to productive conversations with union leadership as we move forward,” Tronc said in a statement. “We remain committed to ensuring that The Los Angeles Times is a leading source for news and information and to producing the award-winning journalism our readers rely on.”

The result was announced the day after the publication of a report by National Public Radio that Mr. Levinsohn had twice been a defendant in sexual harassment lawsuits while employed by other companies. After the article was published, the committee organizing the unionization effort called for Mr. Levinsohn to resign or be fired.

“It is critical that in any such circumstances we conduct a thorough review so that we have a full understanding of what happened,” Justin Dearborn, the chief executive of Tronc, said in the newsroom email announcing Mr. Levinsohn’s leave. “We will not hesitate to take further action, if appropriate, once the review is complete.”