WORKERS UNITE
Gawker becomes first digital media company to see staff join a union,
WASHINGTON— After an organizing drive that moved at a velocity commensurate with its rapid-fire approach to news coverage, the workers of Gawker Media have decided to unionize, with a three-to-one vote in favour of joining the Writers Guild of America—East. So, after a long spell of almost no union activity, will the rest of the digital media follow?
The unions that represent media outlets certainly think so. In times of drought, as veteran labour reporter Steven Greenhouse points out in the Los Angeles Times, even small victories seem hugely significant.
“The word I would use is that it’s a harbinger of things to come,” said Bernie Lunzer, president of News-guild, which represents workers at many of the largest U.S. media companies. “Workers in what used to be new media have the same concerns as everyone else. I think people think the Internet is still magic, but the truth of the matter is that people are people. So someone will come to an organization when they’re 22 or 24, they’ll work 12 hours a day and be happy for the free espresso machine. But eventually they’ll settle down, want to have a house and children.”
And that, Lunzer says, is what will drive them toward forming a union — longer-term security, especially in the event that the outlet gets bought out, which is happening left and right in the turbulent digital space.
That seems to be validated by the comments of those who argued for unionization in the Gawker staff’s very public debate over what to do. Many were careful to point out that, while they loved their jobs and ap- preciated their benefits, there’s no telling what might happen if ownership changed. The Gawker campaign was also unusual, even among media companies, for several reasons.
First, staffers were essentially able to use their employer’s own platform to announce, advocate for and discuss the union drive. That suggests a culture of ownership that’s exceptionally tolerant even among young digital media companies.
Secondly, Gawker’s ownership immediately declared neutrality — if not outright favourability — towards the union drive. “We are united in our belief that writers should decide for themselves whether to organize to protect their own rights through collective bargaining,” wrote executive editor Tommy Craggs. “We hope the labour drive at Gawker Media, culminating in the June 3 election, can serve as a new model for cooperation in digital media.”
Finally, Gawker is actually one of the more mature digital media companies, and it’s had more time to develop a business model. It’s frequently boasted of being profitable without venture capital, which is hardly the norm.