Slate joins Huffington Post U.S., Vice Media and Buzzfeed U.K. in organizing

Slate editorial staff are the latest digital media workers to unionize.

More than 90 per cent of Slate’s editorial staff signed cards with the Writers Guild of America, East, paving the way for certification as a union, says a statement released by their organizing committee on March 16.

“We’re proud to work for Slate, and we feel that unionizing will help us ensure that it is the best possible place to work,” said the organizing committee, who are asking for voluntary recognition from the company. “We’re particularly excited about unionizing as a way for us to put our progressive values into action.”

The team has established priorities for bargaining that include cost-of-living increases, clear and consistent bonuses, inclusion in benefit discussions, transparent processes around discipline and severance, creating standards for a more diverse workplace and having a contract that balances the need for Slate to stay flexible as an organization with employee rights and protections.  

“We feel strongly that we can create a contract that ensures that management is able to continue its work in making the site the strongest it can be, but one that also offers us essential protections while doing so,” the committee said.

Slate, formed in 1996, is a progressive website that covers politics, business, technology and the arts.

They are joining organizations like the Huffington Post and Gawker Media in the U.S., Vice Media in both the U.S. and Canada, and Canoe in Canada in becoming unionized. BuzzFeed UK is also currently in the process of unionizing and has also asked their company for voluntary recognition.