MTV and its parent company, Viacom, will now decide whether to recognize the union voluntarily and begin collective bargaining talks, or demand a secret-ballot union election. Companies that request an election sometimes take advantage of the delay to hold closed-door meetings with staff trying to dissuade them from joining.
Staff demands include access to “adequate” health care and benefits, a role in crafting editorial policy, an “equitable and transparent compensation” policy, and a “fair” severance package, the organizing committee said in its statement. Health insurance for all staff is a particularly important demand, since the majority of workers are full-time freelancers without access to such coverage and other benefits. Staff members also are seeking legal protection for the era of President Donald Trump, according to the statement.
Bugbee emphasized that she and her colleagues are happy with their jobs and are merely looking to make them “better.” Since June 2015, over half a dozen digital media outfits have unionized, including the group of sites formerly known as Gawker Media, Vice Media, Salon, ThinkProgress, The Guardian U.S., and Law 360.
The Huffington Post, the largest such workplace to unionize, on Monday ratified its first collective bargaining contract under the representation of the Writers Guild of America, East.
