Bustle Digital Group Voluntarily Recognizes the Writers Guild of America, East
JOINT STATEMENT
NEW YORK, NY (November 12, 2020)—Bustle Digital Group (BDG) today voluntarily recognized the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) for the purpose of collective bargaining after an overwhelming majority of employees in that unit signed authorization cards.
BDG’s bargaining unit will include approximately 200 editorial, video, design, and social staffers from BDG sites Bustle, Elite Daily, Input, Inverse, Mic, Nylon, Romper, and The Zoe Report.Lowell Peterson, Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, East, said, “We welcome Bustle Digital Group employees to the Writers Guild of America, East. Like thousands of their colleagues in the industry, they recognize the value and power of collective bargaining. Together, we can ensure that their voices are heard about the vital issues affecting their work and their workplace.”
Bryan Goldberg, CEO and Founder of BDG, said, “We respect the decision by some of our Editorial, Design, and Video employees to be represented by the Writers Guild of America, East for collective bargaining, and we quickly voluntarily recognized the union. We look forward to a productive and mutually respectful dialogue with the WGAE as we work through this process.”
The BDG Organizing Committee sent a statement to BDG management which said, “We are proud of creating work that is intentionally inclusive, creative, and empowering. Unionizing will allow us to more fully live out these values. Considering the momentous changes that are routine in our industry and the unique challenges of the past year, we feel now is the time to join our industry peers and organize in the hopes of forming a more equitable workplace. We love our work at BDG, and we are organizing to make it even better.”
The Writers Guild of America, East represents nearly 7,000 writers in film, television, news and new media. In addition to Bustle Digital Group, the WGAE represents newsrooms at ABC News, CBS News, CBSN, Chalkbeat, Committee to Protect Journalists, The Dodo, Fast Company, Fox 5 WNYW-TV, Future plc, Gimlet Media, G/O Media, Hearst Magazines, HuffPost, The Intercept, Jewish Currents, MTV News, Parcast, Refinery29, The Ringer, Salon, Slate, Talking Points Memo, 1010 WINS, Thirteen Productions (Thirteen/WNET), Thrillist, VICE, Vox Media and WBBM / CBS 2 News.
Bustle Digital Group (BDG) is one of today’s leading, global media companies with a portfolio of distinct media brands that are shaping culture.