The Huffington Post Editorial Staff Calls For Union Recognition
NEW YORK, NY (DECEMBER 1, 2015) – The Huffington Post’s editorial staff today formally asked management to recognize the Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO (WGAE) as its collective bargaining representative.
The Huffington Post was founded a decade ago by Arianna Huffington and has grown into one of the most popular digital media outlets in the world. In October, it was revealed that The Huffington Post planned to unionize with the WGAE. Today’s call for union recognition comes after an overwhelming majority of the approximately 350 editorial staff at The Huffington Post and HuffPost Live signed union cards.
The Huffington Post’s organizing committee wrote “HuffPost employees came together to form a union to ensure that we have a voice in the company’s future. A union is a practical way to both preserve what’s working and advocate for necessary changes. In just a few months, staff across the country united around key issues including: transparent and equitable compensation, clear job responsibilities, editorial freedom and independence, diversity in the newsroom and consistent management protocols on hiring, firing and discipline. We’ve appreciated the support we’ve publicly received from our Editor-in-Chief and are proud to embrace the opportunity to work with our colleagues at HuffPost and other newly unionized digital media newsrooms. We cherish working here and want to ensure that The Huffington Post continues to set industry-wide standards and stands by its ideals of editorial innovation and sustainable workplace practices.”
Lowell Peterson, Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, East, added, “The Huffington Post is one of the world’s premier digital media entities, a pioneering enterprise which helped transform the way news and information are shared. The people who write, edit, and create video for Huffington Post are hard-working professionals who recognize that collective bargaining is an essential part of doing meaningful work and building sustainable careers. They join the thousands of WGAE members who care passionately about crafting insightful stories. We anticipate the company will honor the decision by the very large majority of its editorial staff to be represented by the WGAE, and we look forward to a long and productive relationship.”
The WGAE represents writers and producers at digital media outlets Gawker, Salon, Vice and ThinkProgress. In October, the WGAE were invited by President Barack Obama to speak at The White House about the historic wave of digital media writers gaining a strong, collective voice in their workplaces.
ABOUT WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, EAST
The Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media and broadcast news. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit wgaeast.org.