MTV News to Unionize With WGA East
The editorial staff at MTV News plans to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East, the guild announced Friday. A union spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter that about eighty percent of the fifty-employee bargaining unit had signed representation cards.
MTV, a unit of Viacom, can now choose whether to voluntarily negotiate with the WGAE or insist upon a formal election. The company declined to comment.
“MTV News is an icon and its editorial staff speak to, and for, America’s diverse and connected youth,” said WGAE executive director Lowell Peterson. “In an age when independent voices are more essential than ever, we are heartened that these digital news creators recognize collective bargaining is the most effective way to protect those voices and to address critical issues like transparency in compensation and other policies, reasonable benefits for all, and supporting an inclusive workplace.”
The MTV organizing campaign is part of the…