Liberal Listicle Money Drain Defies Gravity[10News] After a crushing round of layoffs that sent shockwaves through the newsroom, BuzzFeed's editorial staff announced on Tuesday that they have formed a union to grapple with the threats looming over the media industry.
Employees have informed BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith of their intentions, according to the NewsGuild of New York ‐ the union with which BuzzFeed is organizing. NewsGuild said that more than 90% of "eligible editorial employees signed on to the union effort."
BuzzFeed, once a darling in the digital media space, laid off 15% of its workforce last month . Employees took to Medium to write an open letter to the company's leadership team to express anger over BuzzFeed's decision not to pay laid-off staffers for earned paid time off. CEO Jonah Peretti eventually relented after the backlash .
However, it appears that the effort to unionize started before the latest round of cuts, with the NewsGuild calling it a "months long organizing drive." Included in the demands are PTO payouts, reasonable severance and due process for termination ‐ a list that shows that staffers are bracing for more turmoil.