Employees at ABC News‘ digital division voted unanimously to form a union with the Writers Guild of America East.
WGA East — which has repped unionized employees in ABC News’ TV operations for decades — said it reached an agreement with ABC regarding the union representation process for employees of ABCNews.com and ABC News’ social media platforms. The union said ABC and WGAE “have engaged in productive and constructive discussions, reflecting a shared commitment to maintaining a collaborative and supportive workplace.”
In a union election counted Friday, July 31, voters in ABC News Digital’s approximately 50-member bargaining unit voted unanimously to be represented by the WGAE for the purposes of collective bargaining. The unit includes digital reporters, editors, video producers and social media producers at ABC News.
In a statement, members of the ABC News Digital bargaining unit said, “The industry is changing at a rapid pace, and we want to help shape the version of ABC News that will emerge from this transition. We are excited to join hundreds of our ABC News broadcast colleagues and thousands of our fellow Disney employees who are represented by unions.”
“The WGAE has represented unionized workers at ABC News since the 1960s,” WGAE president Tom Fontana said in a statement. “We appreciate that management engaged in productive conversations for recognition, and we look forward to winning union protections for ABC News’ digital staff.”
