NEW YORK, N.Y.—Staff at DNAinfo/Gothamist sacked when owner Joseph Ricketts decided to close the operation rather than
accept a union will receive three months of full pay and benefits plus four weeks’ severance pay, under an agreement announced Nov. 13 by the Writers Guild of America East. The union said the deal “includes substantial gains beyond the initial offer made by management.” Writers and editors will retain the right to use their own work, no employee will be required to sign an agreement not to disparage the company, and the company stated that it will not revive the two sites or create any neighborhood news media site for at least two years. In exchange, the staffers agreed not to file unfair-labor-practice charges against the company. “The reporters at DNAinfo and Gothamist stayed strong despite the vocal hostility of management (especially owner Joe Ricketts), and their solidarity proves the value of collective bargaining,” Writers Guild executive director Lowell Peterson, said in a statement. “They achieved the best shutdown agreement possible under the circumstances.”
