WGA East Members at Vox Media Ratify New Union Contract

NEW YORK, NY (June 27, 2025) — Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) members at Vox Media and management reached a deal on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. The contract was unanimously ratified by the 250-member bargaining unit.

After demanding one union contract with consistent salary minimums and benefits for all Vox Media workers across various verticals, members working at PopSugar, The Dodo and Thrillist will be covered under this collective bargaining agreement. Members at Thrillist and The Dodo will receive backpay from April 2024 and May 2024, respectively, according to the 2024 Vox Media Union contract wage increases.  

The Vox Media Union also includes the editorial staff at Vox.com, The Verge, Eater, Punch, SB Nation, and Vox Media Podcast Network.  

Additional highlights from the contract include:  

• Guaranteed general wage increases:
  • Year 1: 5% for salaries under $106K, 4% for salaries over $106k; 
  • Years 2 & 3: 3.25% for salaries under $106K, 2.75% for salaries over $106k; 
• A new salary floor of $70,000 for overtime exempt employees and $68,000 for overtime eligible employees; 
• Protections from Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI): 
  • No layoffs solely from the use or implementation of GAI; 
  • Any GAI generated material will go through standard editorial review processes, and the use of any GAI generated material will include the public disclosure of use of such tools; 
  • Reasonable advance notice of actual implementation of any new tool or system that will meaningfully impact employees; 
  • Employees may decline to be credited on any content where GAI was used; 
  • Protections against use of digital replicas; 
• A new layoff process that will involve two weeks of paid non-working notice, plus a minimum of 12 weeks of severance;
• Maintains unlimited PTO policy, with the encouragement to take at least 25 days off per year (up from 20 days); 
• 12 bereavement/pregnancy loss days (up from 10).  

The Vox Media Union bargaining committee said “Vox Media Union’s bargaining committee is so proud to have fought and won this contract that betters the lives of all of our members.” 

The Vox Media Union voted to authorize a strike if a deal was not reached by the time their current contract expired on June 12, 2025, at 11:59 a.m. Eastern Time. In addition, more than 3,000 WGAE members and labor allies sent letters to Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff demanding a fair contract for the union. 

In addition to Vox Media, the WGA East’s Online Media Sector includes the Bustle Digital Group, Civic News Group, CNET, Committee to Protect Journalists, Fast Company, Future PLC, Gizmodo Media Group, Hearst Magazines, HuffPost, Inc., Jewish Currents, NowThis, Onion Inc., Refinery29, Salon, Slate, Talking Points Media, The Dodo, The Intercept, Thrillist, and VICE.   

ABOUT THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA EAST
The Writers Guild of America East, AFL-CIO, is a labor union of more than 7,500 members working in film, television, news, podcasts and online media. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit wgaeast.org.  

###