Writers At iHeartPodcast Network Ratify First Contract More Than 2 Years After Unionizing With WGA

Katie Campione

24 June 2024 at 11:00 am·2-min read

There will be no strike after all for the writers at iHeart Podcast Network.

The 100-member bargaining unit of the Writers Guild of America East has “overwhelmingly” ratified its first deal with the network, the union announced on Monday. The ratification comes after more than two years of negotiations and an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the management at iHeart.

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“We are incredibly proud to announce the ratification of our first contract. After two long years of bargaining we’ve landed on a contract that we feel greatly improves our working and every day lives. We are excited to begin life under a union contract and to continue to advocate for our entire unit,” the bargaining unit said in a statement.

Here are some of the points included in the deal:

A minimum starting salary of $63,000 for unit members in New York or Los Angeles and $58,000 for members in other locations; across all unit members, the union won nearly half a million dollars in immediate pay increases
Annual minimum salary increases of 3% in the first year of the contract, and 2% in the second and third year of the contract
Continued 401(k) match, after the Company cut the match for non-union employees
Time-and-a-half for work assigned on a holiday
Severance of up to 16 weeks;
Improved bereavement paid time off
The right to bargain over any implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace
Overtime protections and comp time for those who don’t receive overtime
Greater transparency on show metrics and spending
Just cause, and a strikethrough for all references to at-will employment from existing individual contracts
Union security

“With more than 30 million monthly listeners, podcasts have become an essential part of iHeartMedia’s business and their employees deserve to be fairly compensated and provided with workplace protections. The contract won by Guild members at the iHeart Podcast Network sets a new bar for people who work in the podcast industry. The WGAE will continue to fight to raise industry standards in podcasting,” WGAE President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen added in a statement of her own.

The iHeartPodcast Network is a division of iHeartMedia, which bills itself as “the number one podcast publisher in downloads, unique listeners, revenue and earnings.” The network’s podcasts feature the likes of Chelsea Handler: Life will be the Death of Me; Disgraceland; Stuff You Should Know; Fake Doctors, Real Friends; The Ron Burgundy Podcast; Noble Blood and Committed.

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