iHM Podcasters Want To Unionize

Podcast workers at iHeartMedia Inc. are unveiling a unionization campaign they say has secured majority support, extending a recent wave of organizing in the convulsive media industry.

Bloomberg reports the vast majority of employees in a proposed bargaining unit of around 125 producers, researchers, writers, editors, and hosts have signed up with the Writers Guild of America East, according to the union, which is asking the company to voluntarily recognize and negotiate with the group.

After hustling to help navigate the pandemic and achieve explosive growth for the company, the employees want a collective voice to address issues such as pay disparities and opaque decision-making, according to a letter they sent management on Thursday.

“Essentially, we have been encouraged to embrace the dynamism of startup culture without any of the associated benefits,” they wrote.

iHeartMedia didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry. The streaming music and podcast company, which says its content is heard by nine out of ten Americans each month, emerged from bankruptcy in 2019 and returned to the public markets. Bloomberg LP announced plans in May to co-produce and distribute audio series with IHeartMedia.

U.S. labor law allows companies to recognize and negotiate with a union as soon as it has signed up a majority of the employees. If the business doesn’t voluntarily recognize them, workers can ask the government to schedule an election. That labor board election process can then mean weeks of legal wrangling over topics such as which workers should be eligible to vote -- time companies often use to campaign against unionization.

The media industry has seen a number of successful organizing efforts in recent years. WGAE, which represents digital journalists at outlets such as HuffPost and Vice Media, also secured collective bargaining agreements covering podcast workers at Spotify’s The Ringer and Gimlet Media brands.

The iHeartMedia campaign is launching amid a wave of recent labor activism, including strike authorizations in all sorts of sectors and an organizing campaign at Starbucks Corp., where employee ballots are due to be counted Thursday afternoon.

iHeartMedia workers said they began talking to WGAE staff last year and organized in earnest over the past few months. Joelle Smith, an executive producer, said she and other employees previously worked in online writing jobs and witnessed the disruptions and displacement of staff there in recent years.

“Because so many people have come from that landscape, we’re more on our guard about making sure we’re protected,” she said.

In its “Why We’re Organizing” letter to iHM management, the organizing committee writes, in part:

"We, the podcast producers, editors, researchers, writers, and hosts of iHeartMedia, are thrilled to announce that we are unionizing with the Writers Guild of America, East. 

"Months of discussion with our colleagues have clarified some things: First, we love the community we have created at iHeart. We work shoulder to shoulder with some of the most creative minds in the business, who have come to feel more like family. We are devoted and passionate storytellers who take pride in our ability to provide our listeners with entertaining, thought-provoking audio content and, most importantly, companionship. However, during difficult times, we are reminded that while the iHeart Digital Audio Group prides itself on its relative autonomy and ability to adapt to the shifting needs of the marketplace—much like a start-up—we work under the capacity constraints of a legacy broadcast conglomerate. 

"Essentially, we have been encouraged to embrace the dynamism of start-up culture without any of the associated benefits. Throughout the unprecedented challenges of the last two years, we managed to seamlessly transition to remote work; our adaptability helped the company not just sustain but thrive during a period of economic uncertainty and social unrest. 

"During team calls, town halls, and official email communications from leadership, we are frequently reminded of the financial gains that we helped make possible. Bob Pittman, CEO and chairman of iHeartMedia, reported during last month’s quarterly earnings call that Digital Audio revenue increased by 77 % compared to 2020. 

"Our division’s significant growth was 'driven primarily by continuing increases in demand for digital advertising and the continued growth of podcasting,' where revenue is up 184 % compared to 2020. 

"Unfortunately, those gains have not reached the creators working round-the-clock to keep our audience of more than 30 million monthly listeners actively engaged. With hundreds of shows across all categories and genres, many of us are doing the work of multiple employees, and the huge volume of content we are responsible for is not met with equitable compensation. 

"Furthermore, we lack transparency in workplace decision making, meaningful initiatives toward diversity and inclusion, fairness in managerial relationships, and clarity in divisions of labor. While we are proud to be an essential part of iHeartMedia’s success over the past few years, we are keenly aware of significant internal pay disparities between similarly positioned individuals within the company. 

"And across the board, iHeartMedia’s overall compensation and benefits standards are wholly insufficient when compared to the greater podcast and scripted audio market. Due to these working conditions, the creators of iHeart’s podcasts have banded together in order to help determine the best path forward so that iHeart can remain competitive, retain existing talent, and attract new voices to the network, all while creating a more equitable, transparent, and democratic workplace."