Gawker Media is one of the first digital pure-play companies to unionize.
In a majority vote Wednesday night, the New York-based company, which operates a network of sites including Gawker and Jezebel, voted via secret ballot in favor of forming a union with the Writers Guild of America, East.
On Gawker’s Web site, a staff memo said more than 100 editorial employees took part — 80 votes, or 75 percent, were cast in favor, with 27 votes, or 25 percent, against the measure.
With that settled, the memo noted: “The next steps: determining what we want to bargain for; forming a bargaining committee, and negotiating a contract. “
Lowell Peterson, executive director of the Writers Guild of America, East offered: “As Gawker’s writers have demonstrated, organizing in digital media is a real option, not an abstraction. People who do this work really can come together for their own common good. The WGAE, Gawker’s writers, and the company’s management share a commitment to journalistic integrity and creative freedom. We are eager for Gawker’s editorial staff to join our creative community, and we are eager to negotiate a fair contract.”