Thrillist Staff Overwhelmingly Vote In Favor of Strike Authorization

New York, NY (August 13, 2018) – Members of the Thrillist Union with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) voted today to authorize a strike after meeting at the WGAE office for a Day of Action rather than reporting to work. 91% voted in favor of the strike authorization.

The staff of Thrillist announced that they were unionizing with the WGAE in February 2017, and voted to unionize in an online election in March 2017. Thrillist has now been in negotiations for their first union contract for over a year, but Group Nine – the parent company of Thrillist – has yet to agree to a contract which includes livable salary minimums and fair annual increases. The Day of Action and strike authorization vote took place as members of the 60-person bargaining unit debated open issues, including minimum salary ranges, annual increases, and severance.

The staff’s bargaining committee announced the Day of Action this morning in a statement posted to the Thrillist Union twitter account:

Today, the members of the Thrillist Union decided to meet at the union offices instead of reporting to work. It’s time to discuss the next phase in reaching an agreement on our first contract.

Our negotiations have been ongoing for more than a year, and suffice to say, our patience in attempting to impress the importance of key issues — including livable salary minimums and fair annual increases — has dwindled. The unit will not agree to the scant, inadequate economic terms Group Nine management has put on the table.

As at any digital media shop, it is the writers, editors, producers, and creative professionals at Thrillist who are central to the success of the brand and Group Nine Media at large. We have chosen to take collective action, backed by the support of the Writers Guild of America East, to demonstrate exactly that.

Today, Thrillist Union stands together in solidarity. We call on Group Nine management to settle this contract now.

Lowell Peterson, Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, East, said “At its core, collective bargaining is about building power: people in a particular bargaining unit standing together, becoming part of a bigger union with more members and more resources, figuring out which issues are most important and most worth fighting for.  With today’s strike authorization vote, the WGAE-represented employees at Thrillist are exercising that power; they know that it’s worth it to fight for a contract that meets their real needs. And the whole union stands with them.”

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, news and digital media. 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.

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