WGA Members at Audacy Ratify New Contract

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES (September 13, 2022) – The 57-member Audacy Bargaining Unit, covering Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) members at WCBS, WBBM and KNX, unanimously ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with Audacy.

The agreement calls for annual wage increases, starting with a 3% raise for most employees that is retroactive to April 6. The agreement includes a number of other gains, including improved vacation, substantially greater Acting Editor fees at WBBM, improved diversity and inclusion language, and digital training.

In addition, the contract secured employees’ ability to remain in the WGA Pension. The Guild ran a successful campaign that included nearly 4,000 Guild members sending letters to Audacy executives urging the company to fully fund the pension for workers at WCBS, WBBM, and KNX. 

Highlights from the four-year agreement include:

• Newswriters, Editors, Promo Writers, and grandfathered WCBS Desk Assistants (in WGA pension) will receive annual increases in each year of the contract between 2% and 3%, 
• WBBM Associate Producers (not in WGA pension) will receive an hourly-salary increase of up to $16.90 for employees who have been working at the company for more than five years, 
• Effective April 1, 2023, WBBM Acting Editor fee increases to $3.50 per hour,
• Vacation time increase to 3 weeks after 3 years and 4 weeks after 10 years,
• Improved Diversity Committee language addresses training and funding for diversity initiatives,
• Company to provide digital training, including web production and podcasting,
• Company agrees to meeting to discuss editorial standards at WBBM,
• Company may provide commuting reimbursements for work during overnight shifts., or inclement weather, or breaking news assignments, 
• Company shall meet to discuss hazard pay in the event of a health or safety emergency,
• Employees may use floating holiday for Juneteenth.

The Audacy Bargain Committee said, “We are proud of the agreement we were able to present to our fellow Guild members at Audacy for ratification, and we are happy to see that they agreed. This was by no means an easy negotiation. We faced a difficult challenge in ensuring Audacy would make sufficient contributions for our pension, and this was critical to our members. Thanks to member solidarity, we were able to secure the future of our pension, amongst many other gains that will benefit us. We thank our fellow members for their support, because we would not have won this agreement without everyone standing together.”

Lowell Peterson, Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, East, said, ”Audacy needs the talent and hardwork of our members to craft audio content.  This agreement underscores that the foundation of our power as a union is our members – their engagement and solidarity.”

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, online media, and broadcast news. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit www.wgaeast.org. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, West, visit www.wga.org.

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