PAGE 4 | August 16, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
‘Seizing the memes of production’
A tidal wave of union organizing is sweeping the media
By Don McIntosh
Too many writers chasing too
few jobs. A culture of short-
timers building personal brands
and looking for the next big
thing. A newsroom full of col-
lege-educated young people,
paid partly in stock, who iden-
tify with management. That’s
why online media was—and
would likely remain—non-
union, said a January 2015
Washington Post article entitled,
“Why Internet journalists don’t
organize.”
How wrong that turned out to
be. Within months, an explosion
of union organizing had begun
in online media that’s still going
strong four years later.
The union wave started with
online tabloid Gawker, where
workers notified management
of their support for Writers
Guild of America (WGA) on
April 16, 2015, and proved it in
an 80-to-27 union vote six
weeks later.
Strictly speaking, Gawker
A TRICKLE,
THEN A FLOOD
Ars Technica workers demanded union
recognition March 29, 2019, and Condé
Nast agreed to it on May 21. A news site
about the scientific and technical world,
its staff is entirely remote, so it’s the first
digital media company to unionize
workers located throughout the country
without any central physical workplace.
Buzzfeed workers signed cards and
announced their union on Feb. 12, 2019.
Workers at three Maryland newspapers –
Capital Gazette, the Carroll County
Times and the Baltimore Sun Media
Group – won voluntary union
recognition from their employer in
December 2018.
Casper Star-Tribune workers, in Casper,
Wyoming, approved their first-ever
collective bargaining agreement on Dec.
14, 2018.
Chicago Tribune workers won voluntarily
union recognition from their employer
after more than 85 percent of the 280-
person newsroom signed cards.
Workers at the Daily Hampshire Gazette
and Valley Advocate in Northampton,
Mass., voted Dec. 12, 2018 to unionize.
The Dodo editorial and video staff
unionized in April 2018 and ratified a first
contract in December. It’s a site devoted
to animal videos.
wasn’t the first unionized online
media organization. Truthout
had unionized in 2009 and In
These Times in 2014. But both
were outliers—progressive non-
profits that relied on liberal good
will, and even union financial
support in the case of In These
Times. Meanwhile, workers at
the Daily Beast news and opin-
ion site had become union al-
most by accident when their em-
ployer merged in 2011 with
NewsGuild-CWA-represented
Newsweek, and stayed union
when Daily Beast became inde-
pendent again.
Gawker going union was
something else entirely.
“When Gawker unionized, it
was a light bulb in the heads of
a lot of people in our industry,”
says writer Hamilton Nolan, one
of the leaders of the union effort
there. “Media is a pretty small
world. People talk to each other.
It was something a lot of people
Fast Company voluntarily recognized its
workers union on July 26, 2018, and
signed a first contract July 23, 2019.
Florida Times-Union workers announced
their union in June 2018, following in the
footsteps of workers at two other papers
owned by GateHouse Media —
Lakeland Ledger and the Sarasota
Herald-Tribune who unionized in
2016.
Fortune digital journalists announced their
union March 29, 2019. The print side of
the magazine has long been unionized.
Gawker workers announced their union
June 3, 2015, then voted 80 to 27 to
unionize, and ratified their first contract in
2016.
Gimlet Media which produces more than
two dozen podcasts, became the first
podcasting company to unionize when
management agreed to recognize the
union in May 2019.
Guardian US edition workers voted 45-0
to unionize on June 30, 2015, and ratified
their first contract in September 2017.
Hartford Courant newspaper workers in
Hartford, Connecticut, won voluntary
recognition from owner Tribune
Publishing on Feb. 16, 2019.
Huffington Post voluntarily recognized its
workers union in 2015 and ratified its first
union contract January 2017.
In These Times workers unionized at their
progressive non-profit employer in 2014.
The Intercept online investigative site
recognized its workers union in April
2017, 4/17 and signed its first union
contract in July 2018.
Jacobin staff unionized in October 2016 and
signed a first union contract January
2018.
Law360 editorial staffers voted 109 to 9 to
unionize in August 2016, and approved a
first contract in December 2018. A
subsidiary of LexisNexis, the site reports
on legal matters.
Los Angeles Times workers voted 248-44
to unionize in January 2018.
Mic voluntarily recognized its workers union
in March 2018. But after Bustle Digital
Group bought the company in December
2018, it laid off all the workers and
moved to produce with freelancers and
managers.
Morning Call workers in Allentown,
Pennsyvlania voted 31-12 on March 19,
2019 to unionize and are allying with
other units of Chicago-based Tribune
Publishing Co. to try to win a first contract.
New Republic workers unionized in April
2018 and are currently in bargaining.
New York magazine workers won
voluntary union recognition Feb. 1, 2019
for 180 workers at the magazine and all
of its respective online verticals —
Vulture, the Cut, Intelligencer,
Grub Street, and the Strategist.
New Yorker magazine voluntarily
recognized its workers union in June
2018.
Omaha World Herald workers in Omaha,
Nebraska voted 71-5 to unionize in
October 2018.
The Onion workers went public with their
union on April 20, 2018 (4/20) with an
announcement appropriate for the
satirical magazine: “It's Official: Onion
Inc.’s Groveling, Ungrateful Staffers
Unionize” The union includes workers at
the A.V. Club, ClickHole, The Takeout,
Onion Labs, and Onion Inc.'s art and
video departments. They’re still trying to
win a first contract.
Pitchfork workers announced their union
March 29, 2019, and Condé Nast agreed
to recognize it on May 21.
Refinery29 voluntarily recognized its
workers union Jan. 25, 2019. The
female-focused site covers news,
fashion, beauty, entertainment, and
wellness.
Salon.com workers voted to unionize in
2015, and ratified their first collective
bargaining agreement in November
2018.
Slate workers voted 45-7 to unionize in
January 2018 and won their first contract
in December.
Talking Points Memo workers
announced their union in May 2018 and
ratified their first union contract May 30,
2019.
ThinkProgress news site signed its first
union contract in June 2016, and a
second contract in January 2019.
hadn’t considered before.”
By the end of 2015, Salon,
Huffington Post and The
Guardian’s U.S. edition had
unionized, followed by progres-
sive sites ThinkProgress and
Jacobin in 2016, and Thrillist,
The Intercept, Vice Media,
and the multi-site company Vox
Media in 2017.
And that was just the begin-
ning. At least nine other mar-
quee media names unionized in
2018, and a dozen more so far
this year.
And the wave spread to print.
In January 2018 workers at the
Los Angeles Times voted 248-
44 to unionize, for the first time
in the paper’s 137-year history.
The Chicago Tribune followed
in May 2018, recognizing a
union for the first time in its 171
years after more than 85 percent
of its 280 journalists signed
cards. Since then a dozen daily
newspapers in Maryland, Vir-
Turn to Page 5
Thrillist workers voted 56-3 to unionize in
March 2017, and ratified their first union
contract October 2018.
Time magazine digital workers announced
their union April 25, 2019, won union
recognition June 7, and began bargaining
July 30.
Truthout, a nonprofit progressive website,
unionized in 2009 and has been union
ever since.
Vice Media granted voluntary union
recognition for its 430 employees in
September 2017 and signed its first union
contract in March 2019.
Owner Tronc recognized a union in
September 2018 for over 100 workers at
the Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press,
Virginia Gazette, and Tidewater
Review, four Virginia newspapers.
Vox Media agreed November 2017 to
recognize a union for the 400 employees
at all its online media outlets: Curbed,
Eater, Recode, SB Nation, Racked,
Polygon, The Verge and Vox. The two
sides reached agreement on a first
contract in June 2019.
Wirecutter editorial staff announced a
union in April 2019. Owner New York
Times agreed to recognize it July 1. The
site reports on and reviews gear and
gadgets.
Ziff Davis agreed in December 2018 to
recognize a union at Mashable,
Geek.com, AskMen, and PC
Magazine.