ABC News Digital employees have voted to unionize with the Writers Guild of America East following a July 31 vote, the union and ABC News announced Wednesday in a joint statement.
The newly recognized bargaining unit includes approximately 50 editorial employees across ABC News Digital, including reporters, producers, editors, social media producers and other newsroom staff. Following the vote, ABC News and WGA East reached an agreement recognizing the bargaining unit, paving the way for the parties to negotiate a first collective bargaining agreement.
“We are thrilled to welcome ABC News Digital workers into the WGA East,” WGA East President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen said in the joint statement. “Their decision reflects the growing movement among digital journalists who are seeking a collective voice in their workplaces.”
In a separate statement, the ABC News Digital Organizing Committee said employees sought union representation to strengthen their voice during a period of change across the news industry.
“We organized to have a stronger voice in our working conditions during this time of transition in the industry,” the organizing committee said. “The best way to ensure a fair, safe and productive workplace is through collective bargaining. When we support one other, we improve our environment and our news coverage.”
The organizing committee said employees will next nominate and elect a bargaining committee and identify priorities for negotiating their first union contract.
The newly recognized bargaining unit includes editorial employees across ABC News Digital and joins a growing number of unionized newsrooms in the digital media industry. Journalists at digital and legacy news organizations have increasingly organized in recent years around issues including compensation, benefits, job security, workplace protections and a greater voice in workplace decisions.
ABC News Digital employees also join hundreds of their ABC News broadcast colleagues and thousands of other Disney employees who are represented by unions, according to the joint announcement. Negotiations between the bargaining unit and ABC News on an initial collective bargaining agreement are expected to begin in the coming months.