Writers At ‘The Dodo’ & ‘Thrillist’ Stage One-Day Strike Amid Contentious Labor Talks With Vox Media
UPDATED with statement from Vox Media — Writers at The Dodo and Thrillist are staging a one-day walkout against their employers at Vox Media on Wednesday as part of an ongoing an effort to be recognized under the Vox Media Union contract.
Employees of both publications are already represented by the Writers Guild of America East in their own, separate unions. Earlier this year they, along with the Vox Media Union, voted to combine all three labor groups — a move that has yet to be officially accepted by the company.
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The WGA East said Tuesday that all 42 members across the two publications had signed the strike pledge, which alleges that, in addition to refusing to recognize The Dodo and Thrillist writers under the Vox Media Union contract, the company has also been withholding cost-of-living adjustments and promotions amid the contentious dispute.
“As Vox Media continues to ignore the will of its employees and appropriately recognize Thrillist and The Dodo employees as members of Vox Media Union, we are left hanging in the balance,” the pledge reads. “Vox Media has withheld raises and promotions until negotiations are finalized, but the company has also repeatedly refused to respect their employees and are forcing a protracted legal fight.”
The union members say they feel that Vox Media “continues to treat us as lesser than the rest of the company.”
In a statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for Vox Media said: “In advance of the contracts’ expirations in the spring, Vox Media expressed to The Dodo and Thrillist bargaining units the company’s willingness to bargain over annual salary increases, promotions, or any other appropriate subject of bargaining in the context of renewal negotiations for each of these two now-expired agreements. Neither union has responded to our request to bargain, and they have chosen to not engage in those negotiations. Instead of bargaining over annual increases, the unions each chose to file a petition with the NLRB asking them to decide whether it was appropriate to combine those units under the previously negotiated separate contract of the Vox Media union.”
In January, the WGA East filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to combine the Vox Media Union, Thrillist Union and The Dodo Union. The petition was accompanied by a letter signed by 300 members of the unions, delivered to Vox Media management.
In a statement Tuesday, WGAE President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen said: “Despite Vox Media management’s attempts to undermine their unionized employees, our members at Thrillist and The Dodo are making sure their voices are heard with this one-day strike. Members at Vox, Thrillist and The Dodo are coworkers under the same company – and they deserve union protections that represent them as such. It’s time for Vox Media to respect their union’s demands.”
All three of these unions are represented by the WGA East’s Online Media Sector, which also includes the Bustle Digital Group, Civic News Company, Committee to Protect Journalists, CNET, Fast Company, Future PLC, Gizmodo Media Group, Hearst Magazines, HuffPost, Inc., Jewish Currents, NowThis, Onion Inc., Refinery29, Salon, Slate, Talking Points Media, The Intercept, and VICE.
Vox Media owns sites including New York Magazine, The Verge, The Cut, Eater, Vulture, The Strategist, Polygon, SB Nation, Intelligencer, Curbed, Grub Street, Thrillist, PopSugar, The Dodo and Seeker.
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