Glenn Greenwald’s the Intercept Unionizes With Writers Guild of America East
The Intercept, the investigative journalism site founded by Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, has voluntarily recognized the Writers Guild of America East as the collective bargaining representative of its 32-member staff.
The guild said the Intercept’s decision to recognize the union came after a card check confirmed that a majority of the Intercept’s staff signed cards with the WGA East.
“The people who create content at The Intercept challenge the powerful by uncovering the truth. In this strange new era, we watch the powerful attack the idea that truth means anything at all, and digital journalists find themselves on the forefront of the resistance,” said Lowell Peterson, WGA East executive director.
“We are pleased that the content creators at The Intercept have joined with the WGAE to build their own power, to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that addresses their needs and strengthens their voice,” he added. “We look forward to working with them and with the thoughtful, progressive management at this essential media enterprise.”
The Intercept’s editor-in-chief Betsy Reed noted, “We recognize and fully respect the right of employees everywhere — including digital media outlets like ours — to seek union representation. We look forward to working with the WGAE, representing members of The Intercept’s editorial staff, toward a collective bargaining agreement.”
The WGA East has been able to unionize an array of New York-based digital news sites in recent years. The guild represents editorial staffs at Huffington Post, Vice, Gizmodo Media Group, Fusion, the Root, ThinkProgress, and Salon. The editorial staff at Slate asked last month that the company recognize the WGA East as its collective bargaining rep.
The Intercept Organizing Committee said in a statement, “With official hostility to core First Amendment principles reaching a fever pitch, it’s essential that we unite with our colleagues in other newsrooms in order to protect our values. Unions have long played an important role in holding governments and corporations accountable. It’s only fitting that we should carry on that tradition at The Intercept.”
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