5 YEARS OF ORGANIZING IN DIGITAL MEDIA

Five years later, it is clear that the Guild’s first organizing victory at Gawker Media was the spark that lit a fire of media workers joining unions across the industry. The Guild has won representation at 21 shops, including Vice, Vox, Salon, Gimlet Media, Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo, covering more than 2,000 digital writers, editors and producers. At a time when union density is falling in most industries, the Guild has defied the odds and organized a new industry.

For the fifth anniversary of the Gawker victory, Stephanie Luce, Professor of Labor Studies and Haley Shaffer, a graduate student in labor studies, both at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, spoke with union members and Guild staff about the gains the union has won in these five years, and how they continue to fight instability in an ever-changing industry.

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WINNING BETTER PAY & BETTER WORKPLACES

Unionizing has lifted the pay and improved the benefits of employees at the nearly 2 dozen shops who have successfully organized with the Writers guild of America, East.

IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY

Given the constantly changing nature of the digital media industry, the Guild has to win recognition and bargain strong contracts, and they have to work to shape the overall industry. The gains won over the last 5 years have had a  very meaningful impact on the working lives and sustainability of the careers for those who have unionized.

IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY

Given the constantly changing nature of the digital media industry, the Guild has to win recognition and bargain strong contracts, and they have to work to shape the overall industry. The gains won over the last 5 years have had a  very meaningful impact on the working lives and sustainability of the careers for those who have unionized.

ORGANIZING MODEL

TRADITIONAL & NON-TRADITIONAL STRATEGIES

Since Gawker first organized in 2015, Guild campaigns have blended traditional organizing strategies like internal escalations, walkouts, and strike votes with digital organizing tools like Slack and Twitter, as well as leveraging their own platforms and connections within the digital media realm for increased coverage. Throughout the many campaigns, a form of more transparent and digitally present organizing has emerged, always grounded in a strong ownership by the members.

Hybrid of Traditional Tactics and New Tools

Strong Empowered Organizing Committees

Industrywide Movement and Community Building

BUILDING AN EMPOWERED COMMUNITY

Organizing has helped to create a stronger, more resilient community of colleagues in the shops that have gone through the unionization process. Forming a union has led to not only collective bargaining agreements and collective power, but also created a more inclusive and supportive community of colleagues.

“For me, the difference between a non-union workplace community and a unionized one was night and day when I worked at Thrillist. It was and remains a lifestyle journalism brand obsessed with the idea of “having fun,” but when I started, morale was often low and management rarely made real commitments to build relationships across teams, beyond corporate events. Unionizing flipped that dynamic on its head. Almost immediately after we started organizing, members on separate teams within our bargaining unit quickly forged deeper connections that became generative, with editorial goals that felt mutually beneficial. All the corporate team-building exercises in the world couldn’t match the solidarity our union found together and spun into award-winning work.”

Eric Vilas-Boas

“Apart from the contract gains and protections that come with unionization, the relationships and internal community that has come out of this process has been and continues to be extremely rewarding and reassuring to all of us. I believe people at CPJ now feel more empowered and committed to be concerned with one another’s welfare, in a work context, but also on a more human level. It’s not just a sense of top level down concern, but there’s a real sense of connection and care horizontally, across teams and departments, among unit members.”

Tanya Somasundaram, CPJ

DIGITAL MEDIA RISING

HOW THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, EAST ORGANIZED DIGITAL MEDIA WORKERS AND WON INDUSTRYWIDE POWER AND STRONG CONTRACTS

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WGAE DIGITAL MEDIA ORGANIZING TIMELINE

Over the last 5 years we have won 21 union union recognition campaigns and many amazing victories and contracts. All of the victories are part of one big industry wide campaign.

Timeline of WGAE Organizing Efforts in Digital Media

2015
Apr 16
‘Why We’ve Decided to Organize’ published on Gawker

‘Why We’ve Decided to Organize’ published on Gawker

Jun 03
Gawker votes yes to unionize

Gawker votes yes to unionize

Aug 01
Salon gains voluntary recognition

Salon gains voluntary recognition

Aug 07
Vice editorial votes yes on unionizing

Vice editorial votes yes on unionizing

Oct 07
HuffPost goes public

HuffPost goes public

2016
Jan 14
HuffPost Union wins recognition

HuffPost Union wins recognition

Jan 19
Univision buys the Onion

Univision buys the Onion

Mar 01
Gawker ratifies first contract

Gawker ratifies first contract

Apr 15
Tentative agreement with Vice editorial

Tentative agreement with Vice editorial

Jul 25
ThinkProgress ratifies first contract

ThinkProgress ratifies first contract

Nov 04
Fusion and The Root, both under Univision, announce intention to unionize

Fusion and The Root, both under Univision, announce intention to unionize

2017
Jan 07

Fusion and The Root brought into Gizmodo under Univision reorganization, and subsequently under previous Gawker contract

Jan 30
HuffPost ratifies first contract

HuffPost ratifies first contract

Feb 14
MTV News gains recognition

MTV News gains recognition

Mar 22
Thrillist union votes yes

Thrillist union votes yes

Apr 27
The Intercept union wins their election

The Intercept union wins their election

Sep 22
Employees at VICE News and Viceland TV won recognition

Employees at VICE News and Viceland TV won recognition

Nov 02
DNAist/Gothamist Union shut down and laid off with severance negotiated by the union

DNAist/Gothamist Union shut down and laid off with severance negotiated by the union

2018
Jan 11
Vox union is recognized

Vox union is recognized

Jan 23
Slate union is recognized

Slate union is recognized

Apr 20
Onion wins union election

Onion wins union election

Apr 30
The Dodo union wins election

The Dodo union wins election

May 10
Talking Points Memo announces intent to unionize and begins bargaining shortly after

Talking Points Memo announces intent to unionize and begins bargaining shortly after

Jul 25
The Intercept union ratifies first contract

The Intercept union ratifies first contract

Oct 10
Thrillist ratifies first contract

Thrillist ratifies first contract

Oct 17
Salon ratifies first contract

Salon ratifies first contract

Dec 19
The Dodo ratifies first contract

The Dodo ratifies first contract

Dec 21
ThinkProgress ratifies second contract

ThinkProgress ratifies second contract

2019
Jan 16
Slate ratifies first contract

Slate ratifies first contract

Jan 25
Refinery29 goes public and is voluntarily recognized within two weeks

Refinery29 goes public and is voluntarily recognized within two weeks

Feb 12
CBSN (CBS News 24/7 streaming channel) goes public

CBSN (CBS News 24/7 streaming channel) goes public

Mar 23
GMG (formerly Gawker) ratifies second contract

GMG (formerly Gawker) ratifies second contract

Apr 05
Future union recognized

Future union recognized

Apr 19
Gimlet votes yes to unionize

Gimlet votes yes to unionize

Jun 07
Fast Company ratifies contract

Fast Company ratifies contract

Jun 07
Vox ratifies contract after day long walkout

Vox ratifies contract after day long walkout

Jul 17
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) goes public and gains voluntary recognition

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) goes public and gains voluntary recognition

Aug 12
The Ringer goes public

The Ringer goes public

Nov 11
Hearst Magazines Staffers to Form a Union

Hearst Magazines Staffers to Form a Union

Dec 05
Refinery29 union joins VICE union after being purchased by the company in November

Refinery29 union joins VICE union after being purchased by the company in November

2020
Feb 01
After being acquired by Spotify, negotiations begin with the Ringer union

After being acquired by Spotify, negotiations begin with the Ringer union

Feb 10
Huffpost ratifies second contract

Huffpost ratifies second contract

Mar 11
CBSN ratifies first contract

CBSN ratifies first contract

May 29
Hearst Union Election Will Take Place in July

Hearst Union Election Will Take Place in July