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Gimlet Media staff moves to unionize following Spotify deal

Gimlet Media staff moves to unionize following Spotify deal

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The staff is seeking consistent pay and a voice in company decisions

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Gimlet Union

Gimlet Media’s podcast-creation staff announced plans to unionize today, a month after the company was acquired by Spotify in a reported $230 million deal. More than 80 producers, engineers, hosts, editors, and reporters — who are behind popular shows like Reply All — say that the acquisition demonstrates their effort in growing Gimlet from a startup into a million-dollar business.

The staffers are working with the Writers Guild of America, East. (Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.) Their union intends to cover both branded and editorial employees, but not managers, marketing, or members of Gimlet’s sales team. They announced their effort in a tweet and BuzzFeed News article.

The team is seeking “consistent and transparent job descriptions and salary bands;” “equitable processes for protecting employees’ intellectual property;” and “employee input in company decision-making;” among other things. Spotify has previously said Gimlet will retain its independence. The team will still work out of its Brooklyn, New York office, and Spotify has equated the deal to Disney’s relationship to Pixar or Marvel. Gimlet will operate as a studio under a bigger parent corporation.

We’ve reached out to Spotify for comment and will update when we hear back. A spokesperson for Gimlet told BuzzFeed News that it had “received a formal notice from the WGAE union and plan to review,” but had “nothing further to report at this time.”