Vice Writers Get a Union Contract With a Big Raise
Editorial employees at Vice Media, who unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East last summer, have tentatively agreed on their first union contract. It comes with a big raise.
Many editorial staffers at Vice were notoriously poorly paid for many years, even by the relatively modest standards of online media. In recent years, the company has said that its salaries have improved, though the 70 writers and editors who make up the Vice union were almost certainly at the very lowest end of the company pay scale. (Gawker Media editorial staffers are also members of the WGAE.) Now, they have won a deal that will bring them close to a 30% pay increase over the next three years, as well as a reported $45,000 minimum annual salary for union members. From the press release:
The agreement includes an economic package worth 29% over three years, protections on the current health insurance offered employees, protections for employees to engage in non-Vice work, a policy providing for compensatory time off when employees work on weekends or other scheduled days off, guaranteed severance pay, and a commitment to meet on a monthly basis to discuss workplace issues.
The full union will vote to approve the contract next week. If approved, the increase in editorial salaries will help to close the internal income gap at Vice, a multibillion-dollar media company run by an extremely wealthy man.
Huffington Post, Salon, ThinkProgress, and other media outlets that unionized in the past year are still in their contract talks.
There are now even fewer non-union outliers in the digital media.
