Buzzfeed News Union Ratifies Monumental First Contract

The Buzzfeed News Union voted unanimously on Friday to ratify their first union contract with the company. This past March, over 91% of the unit voted in favor of a strike amidst announcement of proposed cuts at the company. Throughout the bargaining process, members engaged in collective, concerted, and escalating actions to move management toward a more just and serious bargaining process, including a one day walkout last December.

"The BuzzFeed News Union has been fighting for our first contract for more than two years and we are so proud to say that today we voted unanimously to ratify our first collective bargaining agreement" said the Buzzfeed News Union Organizing Committee in a statement. "Despite consistent resistance from management, a side quest to negotiate a work-sharing agreement, and a disastrous SPAC deal, we never backed down."

Several members of the union's bargaining committee started at BuzzFeed making less than $40,000 a year. The new contract sets a salary floor for union jobs at $60,000, which will also increase 2.5% every year. It also includes caps on health care cost increases, just cause without exceptions, a commitment from the company not use to NDAs in cases of harassment or discrimination, and expanding overtime eligibility for more members. Read more about the union's industry standard setting wins here.