Pushkin Podcast Workers Threaten Strike During Contract Negotiations
As negotiations over their first union contract near the one-year mark, workers at Malcolm Gladwell‘s podcast company are sending a clear message: We are ready to strike.
The bargaining unit at Pushkin Industries, which is unionized with the Writers Guild of America East, threaten a potential work stoppage in a letter delivered to management on Friday. The letter calls for raises for union members who “tightened their belts with the company during the lean years,” a “competitive” compensation package for workers and a “reasonable” policy on intellectual property. “We will not accept any CBA without these guarantees,” the letter states. “We are prepared to strike.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Pushkin Industries for comment.
Co-founded in 2018 by Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg, Pushkin Industries produces popular podcasts like The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos, Revisionist History and Against the Rules with Michael Lewis. The company has also worked on audiobooks including So Many Steves: Afternoons with Steve Martin and Fiasco: The Battle for Boston. The Pushkin Union consists of 11 producers, editors and engineers.
Pushkin Industries voluntarily recognized the WGA East union in the fall of 2023, with contract negotiations beginning in March of the following year. The company’s workers organized following several rounds of layoffs at Pushkin Industries amid an ad spending slowdown that particularly impacted the podcasting industry.
The union refers to these past cutbacks in its letter to management, but says that after around two years of turbulence, “We have come through that period stronger than ever.” The union adds, “Finally, we have begun to reinvest in the future of Pushkin, putting money towards new staff and new shows that will keep our shop at the forefront of audio.”
Current sticking points in the contract negotiations are language covering intellectual property and wage provisions, according to the union. Said WGA East president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen in a statement, “Writers Guild members at Pushkin are ready to reach a fair and equitable contract with management, but they are also willing to strike if that’s what it takes to get to an agreement that meets their reasonable demands.”
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