Our letter to BuzzFeed News management about why we need Just Cause — with *no* exceptions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE LETTER
Dear Mark Schoofs, Jonah Peretti, Tom Namako, Sam Henig, and Mat Honan,
It’s been over eight months since the BuzzFeed News union brought a just cause proposal to the bargaining table — a key component of nearly every strong union contract that provides basic job security for workers. That proposal was a single sentence: “There shall be no discipline or dismissal, except for just and sufficient cause.”
Just cause, as a concept, is simple. It means that any discipline or discharge of an employee must be for a good reason, and must be conducted through a fair and transparent process — so that we can’t be fired “just ‘cause,” as is currently permitted due to our status as at-will employees. In practice, it’s a set of guidelines and protections that’s been developed over decades of labor law, articulated through “seven tests” that arbitrators can apply to determine whether discipline really is reasonable and fair.
Just cause is the cornerstone of union contracts across countless industries, and has been accepted as a news media industry standard for many decades. It’s in every current NewsGuild contract, protecting journalists in all of the country’s most respected newsrooms — The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times — as well as a host of other digital and legacy media outlets, from The Daily Beast to The New Republic. We were thrilled (and envious!) to watch The New Yorker union reach a tentative agreement on their just cause proposal, making history in ending nearly a century of precarious, at-will employment at the magazine.
But The New Yorker union should never have had to fight tooth and nail simply to achieve such a basic, 101-level protection. And most unions don’t have to fight at all — even at BuzzFeed. In negotiations with the BuzzFeed Canada Union, the company agreed to a discipline proposal that includes just cause almost immediately, with no carve-outs for discipline or firing based on “editorial” reasons; this was a non-issue, as employers in Canada are already required by law to prove just cause in order to terminate workers without notice. In the UK, just cause is also the law of the land; in the rest of the world outside the United States (and Montana!), at-will employment is simply not a thing. Employees in the BuzzFeed News US union should have the same rights as our colleagues in other countries — not to mention our competitors in other newsrooms. But, based on the company’s response to our just cause proposal, we absolutely would not.
Instead, the company’s latest counterproposal would require any arbitrator reviewing a disciplinary decision related to “performance in the creation of editorial content, the editorial quality of that content or their adherence to professional journalistic ethics” to assume that the company was right to discipline the employee unless the union meets an extremely high, almost impossible standard to prove otherwise.
There’s a very obvious problem with that: As journalists and editors doing editorial work, literally everything we do in our jobs (and almost all discipline related to our work) could be subject to this extreme standard, creating a gaping loophole that completely invalidates just cause. It is not what our members need and expect, which is just cause without exceptions.
As BuzzFeed News staff, we are so proud of how we take big swings and hold people in power accountable every day. We are also proud to work in a newsroom where we feel comfortable asking tough questions and raising editorial concerns. But in order to make sure that we continue to feel truly secure in our work and in our workplace for years to come, just cause — with no loopholes, no exceptions — is an essential part of a fair contract.
Just cause without exception doesn’t protect workers who are bad at or unqualified for their jobs; it merely ensures that everyone is given clear feedback, an opportunity to learn or to correct issues, and a way to challenge decisions that are unfair. Just cause doesn’t protect people if they plagiarize, lie, harass someone, or do anything else that would obviously violate our company rules or journalistic ethics; it simply holds everyone, workers and managers alike, to the same high standards. Just cause doesn’t stop managers from making subjective decisions in evaluating people’s work; it just means that if they decide to take serious disciplinary action against someone, they need to be able to explain and justify that decision.
As journalists, few things matter to us as deeply as transparency and fairness. That is all we are looking for now. Allowing any exception to just cause undermines everything we unionized for, and runs contrary to everything we stand for. We strongly urge you to agree to our just cause provision, with no exceptions, for our union members — and to do it soon. Many times in the course of bargaining so far you have asked us for our trust; in order to earn it, we ask that you show us this basic level of respect.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE LETTER
Signed,
Addy Baird, Unit Chair*
Salvador Hernandez, Unit Council First Vice Chair*
Emerson Malone, Unit Council Secretary*
Julia Reinstein, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Stephanie Baer, Unit Council Vice Chair*
John Templon, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Tashween Ali, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Stephanie M. Lee, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Peter Aldhous, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Eric Morrow, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Venessa Wong, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Ema O'Connor, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Shannon Keating, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Zahra Hirji, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Rosie Gray, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Albert Samaha, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Ryan Mac, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Zachary Ares, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Kadia Goba, Unit Council Vice Chair*
Amber Jamieson*
Henry Gomez*
Molly Hensley-Clancy*
Scaachi Koul*
Scott Pham*
Zoe Tillman*
Krystie Yandoli*
Melissa Segura*
Tanya Chen*
Ellie Hall*
Ruby Cramer*
Emmanuel Felton*
Adolfo Flores*
Brianna Sacks*
Katie Notopoulos*
Clarissa-Jan Lim*
Caroline O'Donovan*
Lam Vo*
Tasneem Nashrulla*
Zia Thompson*
Alessa Dominguez*
Nidhi Prakash*
Olivia Niland*
Sarah Schweppe*
Hamed Aleaziz*
Rosalind Adams*
Derek Gardner*
Ayanna Miller*
Ryan Brooks*
Tomi Obaro*
Arianna Rebolini*
Caroline Haskins*
Scott Lucas*
Michael Blackmon*
Brandon Hardin*
Anthony Cormier*
Jason Leopold*
Benjamin Kothe*
Kendall Taggart*
Brianne Sabino*
Otillia Steadman*
Sierra Tall*
Megha Rajagopalan
Pranav Dixit
Paul McLeod
Sara Merg
Carrie Abrahamse
Ben Jay
Marisa Dellatto
Mallory Harris
Kevin Lozano
Adam Sperber
Emma Specter
Brandon Carter
Hannah Basile
Whitney Reynolds
Mason Brohawn
Jason Katzenstein
Brendan O'Connor
Madison Malone Kircher
Rebecca Jennings
David Muto
Aaron Gladstone
Rachel Deal
Maggie Serota
Jackie Luo
Alex Espino Hernandez
Elizabeth Lvov
Mark Joseph Stern
Cindy Carcamo
Maya Kosoff
Emma Saltzberg
Liam Sweeney
Julie Kliegman
Sarah Jarvis
Youngweon Lee
Jonah Wolff
Katie Way
Nate B.
Gabrielle Healy
Richard Johnson
Gidal Kaiser
Seth Rosenthal
Julia Moser
Chris Bennett
Matt Pearce
Terri Falbo
Kyla Bills
Rachel Goodman
Richard Smith
Christopher Shay
Seth Michaels
Alex Jacquez
Melissa Etehad
Kathy Wilmore
Daren Baird
Rhonda Merrill
Kelly Weill
Christina Squiers
Brennan Carley
Jack Dickey
Chris Gelardi
Drew Katz
Angela Lashbrook
Erica Doornek
Laura Blasey
Dawnthea Price Lisco
Ashley Payne
Chris McDaniel
Maddie Taterka
Rebekah Entralgo
Ilana Novick
Chris Carter
Nicole Cohen
Andrew O'Neill
Mike Ferguson
Lander Eicholzer
Maizie Croom
Julia Furlan
Madison Murray
Sarah Kelly
Phil Lewis
Kayla Tanenbaum
Keith Hernandez
Ian Frazer
Steven Louis
Joseph Schuster
Sandra Bykowski
Katy Flynn
Peter Slattery
Molly Bradley
Vesta Partovi
Rachel Riederer
Olivia Cole
Joy Onuwa
Lainna Fader
Nash Jenkins
Anamaria Alonso
Ryan Broderick
Kate Roche
Ryan Leverett
Sarah Moore
Andy Nguyen
Molly Stier
Crispin Long
Tiffany Carbon
Nadia Taha
Inshira Bediako
Hannah Aizenman
A. “Julian” Wilson
Jayla Coleman
Samantha Cooney
Joseph Schmidt
Bill Shaikin
Adam Egelman
Mai Schotz
Gili Ostfield
Shannon Carroll
Robyn Swirling
Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Hayden Gilmore
Kelly Tabor
Julianne Simson
Krysta Anthony
Jason Madigan
Clifton Iler
Abigail Koffler
Roberto Hollis
Rosemary Cipriano
Jane Lytvynenko
Hasan Piker
Emily Zabaleta
Jonathon Anderson
Novin Abdi
Kathryn Breen
Chris Strong
Andrea Rosales
Arik C.
Felicity Linville
Ileana Villalobos
Chris Musachio
Ángel tovar
James Watts-Calkin
Quinn McGourty-Holland
Katherine Severe
Ryley Albright
Kristen Brecht
Alex Laughlin
Sascha Tchuisseu
Michelle Hensley
Naib Mian
Rachel Edelman
Olivia Craighead
Felix Biederman
Nyah Coles
Julia Salseda
Tim Agius
Josh Austin
Taylor Lorenz
Glenn Richardson
Jhoel Del Carmen
Kate Briquelet
Carolina A. Miranda
Siena Tugendrajch
Caroline Olson
Aaliyah Edwards
Nick Guy
Bridget Read
Dorothy Vincent
Pam Jeffrey
Christopher Hill
Daniela Sanchez
Johana Bhuiyan
Sindhu Sundar
Isabelle Brosen
Emily Johnston
Fiona Madill
Steven Thomason
Matthew Cooper
Sam Thurman
Josh Gondelman
Emanuella Ntim
Roxette De La Isla
Madeline Ducharme
Kristina Bui
Sam Mazzola
Charlotte Hollingsworth
Kari Koeppel
Thomas Joseph Marriott
Taylor Daukas
Nicole Demchishin
Rachel Deitz
Stef Pause
Clifton Iler
Caitlin Cruz
Erum Salam
Alec Conyers
Erica Solano
Ishmael Daro
Alyssa Olivera
Brian Bixler
Laura Nelson
Brianne Agatep
Sarah Kobos
Michael McCammond
Morgan Wampler
Benjamin Freed
Michael Sullivan
Ilse Villacorta-Alatriste
Robert Watford
SMASH MOUTH
Annalisa Merelli
Kat Angus
Paraskevou Elia
Chelsea Pennington
Mark Billing
Quinn Moreland
Hunter Boone
Grant Rindner
Kaye Toal
Athena Hughes
Idil Yusuf
Sean McMahon
Ethan Gomes
Emma Cleveland
Catie Cheshire
Anne Zook
David Isenberg
Gordon Volk
Ben Kannenberg
Anja Boskovic
Brittany Brown
Bradley Dunn
Sarah Lister
Meron Abebe
Alfie P
Nick Delehanty
MB Snyder
Steven Thrasher
Troi Miller
David Spiegel
Matt Fleischer
Sams
Jameson McBride
David Coburn
Talia Lavin
Thelma Hudson
Aaron Eisenberg
Devon Caldwell
Carla Sinclair
Christine Grimaldi
Aadita Chaudhury
Jeff Heatley
Anna Render
Jack McLoone
Mary Brownlee
Dan Gingold
Kane Tajnai
Lily Zuber
Nichole Edwards
Carlos Ballesteros
David Marin
Kyle Cardine
Nora Chen
Jillian Steinhauer
Jameson Rich
Osita Nwanevu
Megan Anderson
Jing Qiao Soo
Danielle Weissberg
Michelle Delgado
Matt Johnson
Aidan Howells
Gabe Schneider
Kathryn Plitt
Leslie Sullivan
Juli Adhikari
Stephanie Duncan
Hilary Koss
J Feldman
Lily Deal
Edward Vansciver
Meaghan Allen
Eva Kalikoff
Alex Fleck
Jill Krajewski
Taylor Dahlin
Dana Getz
Esther Taati
Gabby Fernandez
Nandini Jammi
Alyssa Gutierrez
Asphodel Denning
John Herrman
Sara Waterfall
Alison Fumelle
Justin Hemenway
Ryan Martin
Tyler Sorensen
Alyssa Kaplan
Marie Keen
Maggie McCaw
Anushka Patil
Maggie Malkin
Melissa Welikson
Jason King
Jose Fidelino
Shane Hallam
Patrick McLaughlin
Tyler Waugh
Katie Parker
Jay Brandt
Annie Reiter
Matthew Braga
Karen Hopper
Alex Goold
Luis A Gomez
Persia Samudra
Nina Grauer
Juno Lee
Matt Martell
Sarah Coughlon
Lydia Marie
Tony Ceron
Mike House
Alex Speidel
Carlos Maza
Angela julian
Dennessa Atiles
Hunter Boone
Cole Sebastian
Jonathan JayLando Dipratna
Hunter Melton
Christopher Collins
Sarah Rose
Winston Cunningham
Chloe Brobst
Christina H
Moira McCarthy
Jacob Bergson
Louis Zedan
Caitlyn Sessions
Ana Marie Cox
Leslie Dickstein
Kyle Feeley
Samantha Kerger
Marygrace Murphy.
Daniel Cristinzio
Jon Page
Dan Cristinzio
Kiley Parker
Adam Roberts
Kate Sattler
Josie Thaddeus-Johns
Jamie Kirk
Rachel Pointer
Garon Scott
Kaitlin Donnelly
Rikki A
Arimeta Diop
Max Eddy
David Danforth
Emily Collinson
Breda Lund
Dayle Austin
Alison Orgun
Hector Lisboa
Christopher O'Loughlin
Andrew Stern
Nora Sharp
Elena Castaneda
Zeahaa Rehman
David McCarrick
Sarah Morris
Sidney Madden
Sara Brink
CJ Incorminias
John Corley
Kaitlyn Dowling
Nicolas Coronado
Marissa Rodrigues
Rosa Kovacevich
Jessica Edelstein
Zack Lipshultz
Aileen B
Kavleen Singh
Tai Huynh
Michele Daboul
Julia Marostica
Allegra Ringo
Davey Alba
Kristian Battell
FM Union
Sarah Dahl
Marisa Henthorn
Daniel Neuburger
Pablo Gora
Jasper Perry-Anderson
Francis Whittaker
Rebekah Sanders
Sagi Ramaj
Rachael Krishna
Tyler Kingkade
Anna Coppola
Dani Kass
Kelsey Atherton
Sally Davidow
Jonathan Nalikka
Aadita Chaudhury
Zyan Kirkland
Enobong Ukpong
Helena Jaramillo
Tanner Euston
MK Reed
Maya Stibbards-Lyle
Gabriel Scotto
Laura Jean Schuhriemen
Jasmine Nammari
Camie Baird
Rachel Balzano
Morgan Bocknek
Paige Weltzin
Alex Levy
Sydny Grossman
Tyler Berg
Sam Bledsoe
Hannah Ednie
Cal Hughes
Clare Palo
Marlee Walters
Janice Hill
Ariel Craig
Anna Hyzy
Omar Aziz
Susan Rinkunas
Marty O'Connell
Olivia Pescatore
Natalie Meade
Dayle Austin
Jehan Madhani
Jared Servantez
Mercy Loyo
Christopher Gold
Rosemary Cipriano
Cristina Arreola
Cheryl Leith
Owen Lytle
John Lynch
Christian Hardy
Laura Fishburn
Stephanie Flynn
Carlos Gin
Willem Yarbrough
Heather McConnell
Bianca Sacco-Calderone
Rachael McGovern
Will Dawson
Noah Kulwin
Taylor Poisall
Mariko Bigler
Ashley McElroy
Kendall Brown
Michael Johnson
Jamie Kensinger
Veronica Rogers
Sydney Ling
Jacob Zax
Hannah Mellman
Michael Gifford
Rachel Petersen
Pegah Yazd
Lily Deal
Mike Fredendall
Pamela Huber
Meredith Ritchie
Jacob Trewe
Lissandra Villa
Liz Webber
Kate Aurthur
Nicholas Chancellor
Tessa Carlson
Josh Mound
Allison Williams
Lauren Leibowitz
Alexandra Bochetto
Ian Reynolds
Alex Boblet
Arthur Aguirre
Nina Jenkins
Wilhelm Stillwell-Edler
Alexandra Hayman
Daniel Roehrig
Alyssa Bereznak
Madi Bass
Brittany Wong
Deena Shanker
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Lauren Strapagiel
Alex Berg
Jo Parker
Chris Thomas
Elizabeth Gorman
Tristan Loker
Tessa Lee
Gabe Campo
A C
Spencer Carter
Christopher Tognotti
Kathy Routliffe
Mike Simons
Meredith Thanos
Monica Davis
Mark Manning
Shiggy Saleheen
Johnathan Titus
Justin Ray
Neha Kashyap
Brooke Scilley
Rich Bellis
Michael Burns
Nelson Pray
Eric Welch
Stephen O’Connor
Vivian Lybrian McPherson
Farheen Malik
Meaghan Cloherty
Matthew Whitrock
Xander McCabe
Sara Freund
Kaly Nasiff
Tatiana Morales
Sarah Takesian
Seth Klamann
Ellen Mayer
Tiffany Li
Nelson Trujillo
Crystal Hill
Gillian Maxwell
Nadia Kossman
Ignacia Fulcher
Afi Yellow-Duke
Nicole Cannon
Lane Abshire
Chris Cheung
Cal Lynn
Shira Tarlo
Michael McKay
Rachel Bonsignore
Keely Quinn
Nancy Morris
Bahati Louis
Noah McCormack
Iris Chan
Luke Blomstrom
Gracie Gonzalez
Mitchell Burns
Jennifer Tonti
George Urick
Karissa Ryan
Ana Torres
Kat Tenbarge
Sophie Baird
Dan Reese
Michele Santiago
Brandon Zuniga
Caroline Framke
Megan Hunt
Steven Lewis
Phoebe Chute
Jake Heller
Mina Li
John Malone
Jake Fons
Mark Phelan
Kalervo Sinervo
Nam Do
Andrew Hofman
Jessica Daly
Katherine Krueger
Hanan Kolko
Ethan Chiel
Lindsey Teller
Anthony Perri
Doree Shafrir
Nick Bessire
David Weinzimmer
Kristen Carter
Mary Wagner
Sidra Aslam
Dan Magliano
Annie McGraw
Meg Zukin
J. Clendenin
Alek York
Aurélie Petit
Meredith Haggerty
Annie McGraw
Ashlen Harris
Maya Morris
Ann King
Jeremy Taylor
Nichole Jankowski
Peter Opaskar
Jonathan Williams
Shayna Posses
Lauren Raab
Harrison Jacobs
Lindsey Spector
Faith Kyeremateng
Claire Aldred
Harry Williams
Kat Stephens
Alex Ossola
Margaret Lyons
A Nijjar
Kathleen Weidmann
TJ Acena
Lauren Chambers
Courtney Brunelle Kim
Akira Camargo
Yatrik Solanki
Leah Koffler
Miles Reinhart
Meagan Waller
Alec Valdez
Derek Herman
Hannah Campbell
Brittney Morgan
Rachel Krohn
Todd Gregory
Lee Musho
Carolyn Saxton
Marisol Thomer
H Gold
Owen Ruggiero
Kayla Gutmann
Jeremy Hedlund
Dominique A. Bouavichith
Norwood Orrick
Corey Reidy
Alyssa Brown
Izzie Ramirez
Michael Gold
Paige Lowe
Cynthia Santos
Ben Green
Isha Patnaik
Hilary Sims
Haley Mlotek
Ava Mailloux
Sean Collins
Jordan Patterson
Aaron Edwards
Ayo Edebiri
Bradley Babendir
Maren Tarro
Summer Anne Burton
Kathleen Navin
Lev Bakin
Caitlin PenzeyMoog
Helena Jaramillo
Linnea Feldman Emison
Seth Kelley
Nathan Ferguson
Nolan Rosenkrans
Melissa Joskow
Kate Nocera
Matt Enloe
Shelby Trusty
Miller Kern
Alexandra Gjesdahl
Julian Brett
Carson Brown
Mallory Carra
Trent Crockett
Shaye Weldon
Natalie Howard
Samantha Littlepage
Christina Schnabel
Ryan Dombal
Darylle Sheehan
Maia Hibbett
Eileen O’Grady
Benjamin Owen
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
JT Hill
Kate Whalen
Shannon Drake
Hannah Baldwin
Kayla Blado
Chris Heller
Melanie Mignucci
Heather Trobe
Isabel Otero
Ron Mott
Derek Rogers
Megan Paetzhold
Abina Nepal
Cindy Gardner
Bill O'Meara
Phillip Hope
Darren Brockes
Rob Callaghan
Mahita Gajanan
Grant Edwards
Dorion Fuchs
Nick Unger
Marlon Torres
Dorion Fuchs
Abigail Haskell
Robin Schumacher
Joseph Lopes
Firma Francisque
Joseph Dewiel
Richard Ward
Valerie Aurora
Jessica Strahl
Jennifer Bennett
Negin Owliaei
Lindsey Adler
Jaya Saxena
Darian Symoné Harvin
Naureen Khan
Rose de Fremery
Bianca Gracie
Rand Wilson
Doris Falcon
Joseph Ax
Timothy Ryan
Elyssa Mann
Megan Rutherford
Jerry Godbout
Erin Damron
Anthony Pratt
Lynn Coffey-Edelman
Alex Holt
Robert Daraio
Alanna Okun
Ryan Gellis
Neeta Patel
Blair Beusman
Olivia Goldhill
Brian Redondo
Micah Pilkington
Joshua Baker
Josh Richardson
Erika Yost
Eric Nelson
Taylor Williams
Jeremy Canfield
Chad Frazier
J K
Matthew Murray
Richard Ward
Aaron Joe
Caroline Calloway
Katrina Turnquist
Julia Gureck
Zachory Park
Justin Quam
Cassidy Graves
David Huemer
Dorion Fuchs
Joshua Przybyla
Rose Taylor
Elizabeth Royer
Anna Schmitz
Laurie Duffy
Hannah Nash
Nic Dobija-Nootens
Eric Vilas-Boas
Katie Baker
David Lumb
Eleanor Kagan
Sara Nelson
Al Gummerson
Rick Griffin
James Weller
Tim Mulkerin
Rebekah Sanders
Sophia June
Scott Greenstone
Laura Monson
Rachel Nass
Matt Schumacher
Walker Davis
Sarah Jones
Jim Kerner
Jessica Etheridge
Alex Ross
Ciara McLaren
Paul Martin
Jill Jaroff
*Indicates BuzzFeed News Union member