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Season 3, Episode 83

Successful four-day writers strike leads to better pay and benefits

WGE

 

Guest Name:

Erik Shilling

Guest Website:

www.wgaeast.org

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Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) member and Jalopnik News Editor Erik Shilling joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed a successful four – day strike by Gizmodo Media Group Union (GMG Union) with G/O Media.

As part of the Writers Guild of America East, the GMG Union represents staff from digital publishers Kotaku, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Lifehacker and The Root.

About 90 staff workers went on strike for four days. It was authorized with 100 percent of the vote with about 90 percent of staff voting, Shilling said. The WGAE supported the strike through an email writing campaign and established a GoFundMe page to help striking workers.

The strike worked, as the GMG won a higher minimum salary for all positions, with $62,000 now being the lowest tier, up from $55,000 previously. Staff will also be guaranteed 3 percent annual raises, 15 weeks of parental leave and 12 weeks of minimum severance. The staff also won guarantees against forced relocation for current remote staff and trans-inclusive healthcare with standards compliant with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

Shilling encouraged more shops to consider using strikes as leverage. It can take a long time to get a contract, especially in the digital media space, he said. Once it authorized a strike, the GMG saw great results fast, he added. Shiling encouraged more shops to take the option to strike more seriously.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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