Slate Editorial Staff Ratifies Its Second WGA East Collective Bargaining Agreement

deadline.com:

The editorial staff at digital news site Slate has unanimously ratified its second collective bargaining agreement with the WGA East.

The new three-year contract, covering 56 staffers, will see salary minimums rise to $58,000 by 2024, up from the current minimum of $51,000.Slate won union recognition in January 2018, and ratified its first collective bargaining agreement a year later.“This contract improves upon the previous one with five additional weeks of parental leave, higher salary floors, guaranteed increases in annual cost of living raises for more than half of the staff, and other critical benefits,” the Slate/WGA East bargaining committee said. “We are proud of the work we did with the WGA East to secure this contract and are hopeful for the future of Slate.”New features of the agreement include:• 3% annual increases for any unit member making under $72,999.

Unit members making between $73,000 and $93,999 will receive a minimum of 2% annual increase. Those making above $94,000 will receive a minimum increase of 1.75% in 2022 and 2023, and 2% in 2024. • A one-time ratification bonus of $750. • 13 weeks of paid parental leave, increased from eight weeks. • A budget of $10,000 a year for diversity initiatives, to be spent at the discretion of the Labor-Management Committee. • Employees can use their personal stories without management interference for derivative works after four years, and Slate does not get to share any revenue. • Juneteenth added as an additional holiday. • In the event Slate lays off an employee, the company now has to give the employee 20 days’ notice or pay in lieu thereof.