BUZZFEED NEWS UNION RATIFIES MONUMENTAL FIRST CONTRACT

05/06/2022

 For immediate release: May 6, 2021 


BUZZFEED NEWS UNION RATIFIES MONUMENTAL FIRST CONTRACT

The three-year contract includes a minimum salary floor of 60k that goes up 2.5% every year, and significant enhancement and expansion on buyouts and severance. 

Buzzfeed News formed a union in February of 2019, with over 90% of the unit in favor. It represents 61 employees.

 

NEW YORK — Today, the Buzzfeed News Union voted unanimously to ratify their first union contract with the company. This past March, over 91% of the unit voted in favor of a strike amidst announcement of proposed cuts at the company. Throughout the bargaining process, members have engaged in collective, concerted, and escalating actions to move management toward a more just and serious bargaining process, including a one day walkout last December. 

Statement from the BuzzFeed News Union Bargaining Committee: 

The BuzzFeed News Union has been fighting for our first contract for more than two years and we are so proud to say that today we voted unanimously to ratify our first collective bargaining agreement. Despite consistent resistance from management, a side quest to negotiate a work-sharing agreement, and a disastrous SPAC deal, we never backed down. 

Several members of our union bargaining committee started at BuzzFeed making less than $40,000 a year. Today, we ratified a contract that sets a salary floor for union jobs at $60,000, which will also increase 2.5% every year. We also secured caps on health care cost increases — even though, for two years, management told us they would never give us any benefit or guarantee they don’t give the whole company. Some of our other major wins include just cause without exceptions, a commitment from the company not use to NDAs in cases of harassment or discrimination — not just for our unit, but for the entire company — and expanding overtime eligibility for more of our members. We also got protections against going into the office if it is haunted (yes, seriously), and so many other wins that we will keep sharing on social media in the coming days.

Near the end of our process, we faced yet another attempt from management to gut our newsroom through buyouts, but we once again fought back to secure better terms for our members. We are proud of the strong contract we have won and proud that we have created a buyout process that gives our members a say in their next steps and sets the stage for a strong future at BuzzFeed News for those who stay.

Our contract is full of industry standard setting wins that we will enforce here and BuzzFeed, and those of us who leave will ensure anywhere we work next wins them, too.

 

Statement from Susan DeCarava, President, NewsGuild of New York:

“The strength of this contract is a direct reflection of the power these workers have built together. With each hurdle management threw at the workers, they responded with solidarity and a deeper commitment to fight for better. Not only has this contract brought tremendous change to the BuzzFeed newsroom that is already having a positive impact on worker’s lives, but this campaign has also inspired editorial and media workers to embrace their own power through collective action.”

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