Posts tagged Writers Guild of America East
CNET Workers Unionize as ‘Automated Technology Threatens Our Jobs’
May 18, 2023 // “The digital media landscape is transforming rapidly,” reads a letter written to CNET management explaining the workers’ choice to organize. “In this time of instability, our diverse content teams need industry-standard job protections, fair compensation, editorial independence and a voice in the decision-making process, especially as automated technology threatens our jobs and reputations. A union will help us adapt to new business strategies while establishing high journalistic standards and practices.” The rapid development of AI models like ChatGPT-4 has recently caused lots of concern in writing industries. The ongoing film and TV writers’ strike has labeled AI as a serious point of contention between workers and management, and the union wants to “regulate use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies” in its contract to protect writers’ jobs. AI isn’t yet good enough to replace a team of writers, but it is cheaper.
Strike Authorization Vote Now Underway at Writers Guild, With Current Contract Due to Expire May 1
April 13, 2023 // “The studios need to respond to the crisis writers face,” the WGAW wrote in a recent tweet. “WGA members must demonstrate our willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote… Over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions. We are asking to restore writer pay & conditions to reflect our value to this industry. The survival of our profession is at stake.” Some of the Board and Council’s demands include increased residuals for reuse markets, the reduction of “mini writers rooms” that greatly diminish the size of TV writing staffs, increased contributions to pension plans and health funds, and standardized compensation and residual terms for features released either theatrically or via streaming. In addition: enacted measures to combat discrimination and harassment and promote pay equity, and a strengthened regulation of options and exclusivity in television writer employment contracts.
Crooked Media Staff Unionize With Writers Guild East
February 8, 2023 // In a statement, a Crooked Media spokesperson said the company will work with the union “on the request for recognition and starting the collective bargaining process.” “At Crooked Media, we have consistently supported and amplified the power of organized labor and welcome our employees’ efforts to unionize,” the spokesperson added. Crooked Media was founded in 2017 by former Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor. In addition to the flagship Pod Save America podcast, the company is behind shows like Pod Save the People, Edith!, Hysteria and Hall of Shame, among others. In unionizing with WGA East, Crooked Media staff are following similar unionization efforts from podcasting shops like Spotify’s Gimlet Media, Parcast and The Ringer; the iHeart Podcast Network; and Pineapple Street Studios.
Bustle Staff Still Working Without a Contract 2 Years After Unionizing
October 25, 2022 // BDG, whose portfolio that includes Bustle, Mic, Inverse and Elite Daily, announced that it would voluntarily recognize BDG Union and enter bargaining talks in November 2020. Insiders with knowledge of the contract talks told TheWrap that negotiations immediately hit a snag because of the nature of BDG’s sites, whose editorial staff is filled with part-time and hourly writers. While the WGAE’s team of 30 committee members had been designed to reflect the part-time-heavy nature of these sites as well as the diversity of the new bargaining unit, BDG management initially said that negotiation meetings could not last longer than an hour if part-timers were involved, a provision that the union contested.
Vox Media Union Reaches Tentative Deal, Averting Threatened Strike
June 14, 2022 // The tentative deal was reached after about six months of negotiations, during which time bargaining unit members said that they were advocating for raises and benefits that take inflation into account, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and contract language that retains union benefits in the event of a sale or merger, among other points. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in early June, The Verge senior reviewer and Vox Media Union member Monica Chin said that the union was pushing primarily to give members at Vox “stable and satisfying long-term careers.” Hollywood Reporter, Polygon, Eater, Vox Media, A.V. Club
Union membership hits new low
January 24, 2022 // Those numbers have fallen steadily, if not uniformly, over the last two generations, even as the number of American workers has increased substantially. Today, there are about 50 million more workers in the American economy than there were in 1983, and 3 million fewer union members.
Why media unions are demanding to participate in management’s return-to-office planning
January 19, 2022 // For many media unions, the latest battleground is not the fight for wage increases or promotions: It’s the return to in-person work.