Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The Writers Guild of America East council sent a letter to Vox Media brass Monday to demand the company allow employees at its publications The Dodo and Thrillist to merge into the Vox Media Union.
The Dodo and Thrillist parent company Group Nine was purchased by Vox Media in December 2021. The Group Nine publications have been incorporated into Vox Media operations, but the employees say Vox Media leadership is refusing to allow them to join the Vox Media Union. “The workers at Vox Media, the Dodo, and Thrillist all work together, for the same employer, and have integrated operations and staff across the company,” the WGA East council, including president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, wrote in its letter to Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff and president Pam Wasserstein Monday, which was obtained by Variety. “More importantly, these workers have overwhelmingly expressed their wishes to bargain together for equal rights under one contract.
Despite these realities, you have so far insisted on three separate units working under three separate contracts. Not only does Vox Media’s intransigence disrespect the wishes of your workers, it is also inefficient, forcing Vox Media, bargaining unit members, and the Guild to bargain and administer three separate contracts, wasting time, energy, and resources for all involved at a time of profound uncertainty and instability in digital media.
Read more on variety.com