450 TV & Film Writers Urge Vox Media To Agree to Union Contract
New York, NY (June 4, 2019) – Over 450 members of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) working in scripted film and television including WGAE President Beau Willimon (THE FIRST), Neil LaBute (VAN HELSING) and David Simon (THE DEUCE), signed a petition urging Vox Media to agree to a union contact.
WGAE Vice President Jeremy Pikser (BULWORTH), Council member Kaitlin Fontana (BLACK & WHITE) and Tian Jun Gu (HOUSE OF CARDS) hand delivered the petition to Vox Media management at a bargaining session today in New York City. It has been over a year since the Guild held its first collective bargaining session with Vox Media. The union was recognized by management on January 11, 2018.
The petition reads:
“As WGA members in scripted film and television, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues at Vox Media – including Curbed, Eater, Polygon, Recode, SB Nation, The Goods, The Verge, Vox.com, and Vox Studios – as they bargain their first union contract.
“Film, television, and other parts of the media and entertainment industries have long been unionized because creative workers fought for a seat at the table to negotiate fair wages, good benefits, and just working conditions. Particularly as Vox Media expands further into television and film production, we call on the company to agree to a union contract that lives up to its status as a leader in this industry.”
Additional signers of the petition include Andrew Bergman (HONEYMOON IN VEGAS), Kimberly Caramele (INSIDE AMY SCHUMER), Tom Fontana (CITY ON A HILL), Terry George (HOTEL RWANDA), Chris Gethard (THE CHRIS GETHARD SHOW), Melissa James Gibson (HOUSE OF CARDS), Dan Gilroy (NIGHTCRAWLER), A.M. Homes (THE L WORD), Tamara Jenkins (PRIVATE LIFE), Thomas Kelly (THE PURGE), Warren Leight (LAW & ORDER: SVU), Alison McDonald (SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT), Julie Rottenberg (DIVORCE), James Schamus (INDIGNATION), Shari Springer Berman (AMERICAN SPLENDOR), Barry Strugatz (MARRIED TO THE MOB), Ted Tally (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS), Kevin Wade (BLUE BLOODS), Michael Weber (THE DISASTER ARTIST), Tracey Wigfield (GREAT NEWS), Tracey Scott Wilson (FOSSE/VERDON) and Elisa Zuritsky (DIVORCE).
View the full petition here.
ABOUT WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, EAST
The Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in film, television, news and new 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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