One Reporter On How She Helped Buzzfeed’s Newsroom Start A Union

Reporter Julia Reinstein joined Buzzfeed four and a half years ago when she was fresh out of college. In addition to writing about everything from TikTok to the shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, Julia played an integral role in the Buzzfeed newsroom’s unionization last year. 

Ahead of the news union’s first bargaining session on Monday, Julia shared how it all began -- and some tips for others looking to unionize -- with She Spends. 

(editor’s note: this interview has been condensed and edited for clarity)

How did you get involved in the unionization process at Buzzfeed? 

I had been a supporter of unions generally for a while. My co-workers had been talking to the NewsGuild (a union for journalists) for a couple of years in a casual way, but things kicked off in a big way sometime in the fall of 2018. During that fall, our podcast team was laid off. There had already been layoffs leading up to it. Every time it had been upsetting, but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It really sucked. Things just hit a fever pitch. It was the first time that I saw people saying on the company’s email and Slack channel that they were angry and upset. 

That’s the genesis of where this really started. It wasn’t like we were immediately forming a union, but we all decided to sit down and talk and decide what to do. We all sat around a big conference table and we talked about our issues and grievances. It was really cathartic to hear that so many people had things they wanted to be addressed. It was like a dam needed to break. Things at Buzzfeed are probably a lot happier and better than a lot of places. Because of that, people didn’t feel like their complaints were warranted, but things can be bad at any workplace. At a later meeting, we took a vote and decided that we would pursue unionizing. 

Were you worried at all about retribution from your bosses or higher-ups at the company? 

This is the first newsroom I’ve ever worked in. None of us knew what to expect. We were all coming at this from a fresh place. When you start the process, you have to keep it really secret. It was such a relief when it was finally public. We were using Signal to communicate, and we had been hearing about leaks from the press. It was pretty stressful. 

Retribution is a real thing for a lot of people. Personally, I didn’t think that was likely. I knew it would be a big news story if it came out. I knew if there was any retribution, it would be bad publicity. There are subtler things that happen and there are ways that employees could feel afraid. We knew our rights and they kept our heads cool. 

When you start the process of unionizing, it is common for bosses to call you into a meeting to ask you about it. I knew that I wanted to be ready if that happened, so we went over scripts of what to say in case it did.  I think it’s harder for a lot of people where retribution is a more likely situation. It is a real thing, but there are labor rights, if anything bad had happened, we could have taken action. 

The first step in the unionization process is to announce that you and your fellow employees are unionizing. What was that like for you? 

The timing of it was crazy. We had layoffs at the end of January 2019. At the time, we had been close to going public about unionizing. We were hearing rumors of layoffs coming, but fortunately, we were already close. Then we have these layoffs, and it was the worst day of my job ever. 

We planned to announce on February 13, but we had to announce it a day earlier than expected because Bloomberg leaked the story. We had planned to go public with a New York Times story on the 13th, but that didn’t go as planned. It’s hard to keep secrets among journalists. So on February 12, we got a message from our NewsGuild representative saying that the Bloomberg reporter was contacting them. They tried to hold him off, but he had enough to publish without them confirming the story. 

My heart dropped out of my ass when I found out he was going to publish it. Everyone on the organizing committee ducked into a conference room, where we waited to make sure the Bloomberg reporter wasn’t bluffing. We had to reach out to the New York Times reporter to tell her to publish her story early. 

Then, we put a Twitter account up for the news union. We published all our statements online and we all changed our Twitter avatars to Buzzfeed News union images. We sent an email to the whole newsroom. We took a long time to do that all. 

So have you started negotiations yet? 

We have not. We had to wait for the company to recognize us. It took five months for it to happen, which is incredibly rare. This was union-busting. We didn’t deal with retribution beforehand, but this was bad after. We spent months arguing over stupid minutiae.

We had to debate whether we would choose voluntary recognition or going to a National Labor Board vote, which we would have won. When it became clear that we might stop pursuing voluntary recognition, the company started to come around. 

What was it like to get recognized? 

It was a very exciting day. They bring in a neutral party and he counts the votes and it was a really clear win. Everyone signed cards. We had a little cake. That was only this past summer. 

So then what happened?

There are other things that had to happen before we start bargaining this month. We elected our boards. We have a chair for each department, and I’m the chair for the breaking news desk. I’m also on the bargaining committee, which is going to be working on our contract. Once we formed that committee, we sent out a massive survey of almost 200 questions going over with everyone in the unit what their experiences are at the company. We got more than three-quarters of the newsroom to answer the survey. 

Now that you’re recognized and have set up these committees, you’ll be able to start bargaining, right? 

We’ll have more training on how to negotiate, but our first bargaining session is January 27. That’ll be the first time that we sit down across the table from who is representing management. In the first session, we’ll bring in proposals for how we will handle bargaining. 

I started talking to people in real ways about what our workplace looks like. That includes pay. I found out based on my actual title and position, it seemed like I was making significantly less than I should have been. It was pretty upsetting.

What will you be asking for? 

People want a pay study. We have some pay information from the survey, but we couldn’t confirm it. And once that’s complete, we want them to adjust wages accordingly. People tend to get good raises when they enter into union contracts. Making sure that severance is in the contracts. 

There are smaller things, too, like we want to make sure that when people get book, TV or film deals based on their work get paid accordingly. We want to make sure that people feel comfortable taking their paid time off, too. We definitely want to address diversity by ensuring that a certain percentage of people interviewed for roles are BIPOC.

Do you have any advice for readers who are thinking about unionizing? 

The first thing I’ll say is that when your workplace is fine, it’s the best time to unionize. Every workplace could use a union. Things are set in contract to stay that way. Things are still really good here, I just know that is not necessarily forever. 

There are unions for basically everything. There is someone who is going to represent you. Ask for help because people want to help you. Unionizing is good for anyone. It makes so many things better and healthier. It’s why we have weekends. It’s not easy, but it’s going to make my workplace better and I think it already has at Buzzfeed. 

I credit the union with why I got a significant raise last year. Even though I haven’t had the concrete benefits of a contract yet, the benefit is the way it makes you start talking to your coworkers. I started talking to people in real ways about what our workplace looks like. That includes pay. I found out based on my actual title and position, it seemed like I was making significantly less than I should have been. It was pretty upsetting.

I hadn’t negotiated, but I actually did something about it. I went to my manager saying “This is so weird but I’m making this much less than other people.” I have really good bosses and they came through. I got a significant raise. 

I just want to say that if you’re thinking about unionizing, you should do it. It will take time. Just start talking to coworkers.