The Huffington Post Editorial Staff Moves Forward With Union Plans

The editorial team at the Huffington Post has officially asked management to recognize the Writers Guild of America, East as its union.

In recent months, the newsrooms of several digital media organizations (including Gawker, Salon and ThinkProgress) have unionized with the Writers Guild. A similar effort has been underway at The Huffington Post — which, like TechCrunch, is owned by AOL, and which in turn is owned by Verizon.

According to a Writers Guild announcement, “an overwhelming majority” of the 350-person HuffPost editorial staff has signed union cards. The announcement also includes this statement from the HuffPost organizing committee:

HuffPost employees came together to form a union to ensure that we have a voice in the company’s future. A union is a practical way to both preserve what’s working and advocate for necessary changes. In just a few months, staff across the country united around key issues including: transparent and equitable compensation, clear job responsibilities, editorial freedom and independence, diversity in the newsroom and consistent management protocols on hiring, firing and discipline. We’ve appreciated the support we’ve publicly received from our Editor-in-Chief and are proud to embrace the opportunity to work with our colleagues at HuffPost and other newly unionized digital media newsrooms. We cherish working here and want to ensure that The Huffington Post continues to set industry-wide standards and stands by its ideals of editorial innovation and sustainable workplace practices.

I’ve reached out to The Huffington Post for comment and will update if I hear back.