The Writers Guild of America East is turning up the pressure on liberal podcast company Crooked Media, as the employees in its union bargaining unit are staging a one-day walkout on Monday ahead of critical negotiations.
More than 95% of the 61 Crooked Media employees in the unit signed the pledge to take part in the walkout, where they will be handing out leaflets to the public.
“We, the undersigned members of the Crooked Media Workers Union, stand united in our pursuit of a collective bargaining agreement that adequately reflects the current economic landscape, the rapidly-evolving nature of the media and news industry, and the critical concerns of our members,” the union’s walkout pledge reads.
“This includes fair and competitive salary minimums, annual cost-of-living adjustments, and safeguards against layoffs, along with a range of benefits and company policies that truly embody Crooked Media’s progressive values. We will not accept any collective bargaining agreement without these guarantees,” the pledge continues.
The walkout comes days after a Bloomberg report outlining major internal conflict at the media company founded by former Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett. The article, which interviewed 15 current and former Crooked Media employees, outlined frustrations among employees with earning promotions, heated discussions over how the company’s podcast should address the Israel-Hamas war, and big paydays for the site’s founders after securing a distribution deal with Sirius XM, even as the podcast industry faces headwinds.
While the article was met with pushback by some employees on social media, the bargaining unit’s labor actions have led to progress on the contract talks. According to communications from bargaining unit negotiators obtained by TheWrap, Crooked Media offered significant increases in salary minimums in the wake of the walkout pledge being signed.
According to the company, their latest offer to the union for entry-level employees includes:
- A minimum guaranteed salary of $78,412
- 49 fully paid days off
- Fully covered health care, dental and vision plans
- 401K with a match up to 4%
- 18 weeks of parental leave
- Comp time off for extended working hours, weekend or holiday work
- Minimum severance of 12 weeks
Other gains the bargaining unit is still pushing for include annual rate increases that match the rate of inflation, layoff protections and safeguards against artificial intelligence being used to perform union-covered work. The unit is also pushing for six employees who were excluded from its ranks to be included under unionization after filing an unfair labor practice charge over that exclusion.
“We’ve been going back and forth over whether five newly-created positions are included within the bargaining unit, but there has never been any nefarious intent here and we’re confident we can resolve this issue,” a Crooked Media spokesperson said in a statement. “Ultimately, we intend to offer all full-time non-union employees the same benefits as those negotiated by the union for equivalent positions.”
“We care deeply about our work at Crooked and the larger progressive mission,” the bargaining unit said in a statement. “It is because of those values that we are steadfast in demanding our fair share with a contract that reflects an equitable workplace. Jon, Jon, and Tommy have consistently reminded us that organizing is essential to successful politics. If the founders believe that this is the case, we ask them to show that by coming to the bargaining table in these final days. We look forward to their active involvement in ensuring a contract that adequately recognizes our unit’s essential work by August 8th.”
“Our union has told us they believe we’re in the homestretch of negotiations, and we completely agree,” a Crooked Media spokesperson said. “We completed three days of bargaining last week, and we have two more long-scheduled days of bargaining next week. If our unit wants to walk out for a day between those bargaining sessions, that’s their right. But we don’t think walking out in the middle of negotiations makes a lot of sense and are eager to get back to the table so we can reach a deal this coming Wednesday and Thursday.”
The walkout also comes during a busy political news season, with the announcement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick potentially coming Monday during the union action.
