WGA East Files Unfair Labor Practices Charge Against Bustle Digital Group

deadline.com:

The WGA East has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Bustle Digital Group, claiming that three of the 39 guild members who were laid off there recently were terminated “in retaliation for their concerted, protected union activity in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.” Members of the guild’s BDG bargaining unit, wearing union shirts and Napoleonic hats, delivered the unfair labor practices charges today to the office of BDG CEO Bryan Goldberg — who paid $1.4 million in 2021 for one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rare two-cornered hats. “The company’s decision to lay-off three WGA East unit members for concerted, protected activity causes an overall chilling effect on all concerted and protected union activity in violation of the NLRA,” the guild said in its complaint, which was filed today with the National Labor Relations Board.

Prior to the layoffs this month, the guild represented more than 130 of the company’s employees at several of its media outlets, including Gawker, Bustle, Inverse, Nylon, Elite Daily, Mic, Some Spider and Scary Mommy.

Gawker was shut down – for the second time – on February 1. The guild has been attempting to negotiate a contract with the parent company Bustle Digital Group for nearly two years. “Our goal is to negotiate a fair contract, to ensure that the people we represent at BDG have a voice on the job and the protections they need,” said WGA East Executive Director Lowell Peterson. “We cannot, and will not, stand by while BDG undermines the process by committing unfair labor practices.” The guild claims that the layoffs “unjustly included three prominent and active union members.