Gawker Writers, Editors Join WGAE

The editorial staff of Gawker Media has voted 3 to 1 to unionize with Writers Guild of America, East, for the purposes of collective bargaining. WGAE says that in a vote held June 3, Gawker Media staffers voted 80 to 27 to join the union. Gawker Media encompasses a number of websites, including Gawker, Deadspin, Jezebel, Jalopnik, Kotaku, io9, Gizmodo and Lifehacker.

“As Gawker's writers have demonstrated, organizing in digital media is a real option, not an abstraction. People who do this work really can come together for their own common good,” said Lowell Peterson, executive director of WGAE following the vote. “The WGAE, Gawker's writers, and the company's management share a commitment to journalistic integrity and creative freedom. We are eager for Gawker's editorial staff to join our creative community, and we are eager to negotiate a fair contract.” Gawker joins TV and film writers, broadcasters and other digital media professionals in the guild.