Members of the WGA East employed by Hearst Magazines Media have overwhelmingly ratified what the guild is calling a “groundbreaking” first contract that covers some 560 writers, producers and editors at 28 of the publishing giant’s brands, including Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics, Car & Driver, Oprah Daily, Seventeen, Elle, Redbook and Woman’s Day. “After more than two years of negotiations,” the guild said, “the ratification brings to a close the campaign for a first union contract with the infamously anti-union media conglomerate.” The deal was reached last month after a threatened strike, a half-day walkout and rally in March, and the union’s filing of four unfair labor practices charges against the company. “The WGA East continues to build power for professional writers,” said Lowell Peterson, the guild’s executive director. “The Hearst contract is a prime example of what can be achieved through collective action.
And as the Hearst contract demonstrates, the WGA East is a union ready to fight for a strong union contract. This includes our members in film and television who are currently on strike until they can get a fair deal from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
We have recently won contracts and union recognition in our Freelance/TV/Streaming sector in nonfiction TV and podcasting, and we are building power in our Broadcast/Cable Streaming News sector at MSNBC and CBSN.
We are one union, standing together.” According to the guild, the new contract includes “a major increase in salary minimums across all job titles, bringing the Hearst Union in line with the industry standards set by the guild.” Minimum salaries for the
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