Jalopnik, a part of the Gizmodo Media Group, went on strike and here’s why.

Update- Mar 7, 2022- GMG Union and management reached an agreement, they’re no longer on strike, so expect new posts as soon as today! – GMGUnion.com/victory

If you’re a fan of Jalopnik, you’ve probably noticed they haven’t posted anything new since Monday. It’s because, according to the Gizmodo Media Group Union, Jalopnik staff writers, along with staff writers from Jezebel, Kotaku, Lifehacker, and The Root are all currently on strike.

G/O Media, previously Gizmodo and The Onion, is owned by the private equity firm Great Hill Partners.

The GMG Union’s previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, approved and in effect in March 2019, expired as of February 28, 2022.

Since their previous CBA went into effect, the workplace environment for writers has changed drastically. Issues brought about by a markedly different work environment that GMG’s Union is hoping to address in this new CBA include,

  • Ensuring healthcare benefits can’t be pulled or modified at management’s discretion.
  • Improving pay for new hires to at least $63,000/year
  • Improving parental leave time
  • Allowing employees to opt into work-from-home
  • Adding a diversity hiring initiative.
  • Protection from forced relocations.

This strike comes on the heels of stalwart Jalopnik writers David Tracy and Jason Torchinky both announcing they’re leaving Jalopnik to start their own site, The Autopian.

A week after that, Editor-in-chief Rory Carroll announced he’s leaving Jalopnik to start a new job with friends at RM Sotheby’s.

It’s not clear how long this GMG Union strike will last.

GMG Union members are asking fans of their work, Jalopnik readers included, to consider donating to their GoFundMe to, “…provide support for GMG Union members who will suffer financial duress from this interruption to their normal pay and benefits.”

Their site also lists other ways to support including writing a letter of support to Great Hill Partners and Tweeting about the strike.

Until Jalopnik’s writing staff gets back to posting the hottest takes, consider supporting other car sites like The Drive, AutoBlog, CarScoops, Hooniverse, and The Truth About Cars.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Frankly all the sites suck nowadays. Most jalopnik writers hate cars live in NYC and basically write about politics most of the time. These have blacklisted most anyone who disagree with them. None of the remaining writers even include a number or email contact. They have clearly disenfranchised the readers and now want their support in a strike to continue to do their own blog? I’m thinking you don’t piss off the bosses and the readers at the same time. I think it’s telling that it took 3 days for anyone to notice that they were on strike.

  2. It’s OK to piss off right-wing ******bag Trumpers. They don’t count. Real Conservatives, no, but there aren’t many of those left.

  3. Jalopnik lost too many good writers a couple years ago. They were a great site for many years, but I don’t know if that can continue now.

    Oh and I’m pretty sure it’s not the writers who hate cars, it’s the readers who keep crapping on cars they don’t own.

  4. Well strike is over. The columns posted seem worse than ever. Still little kids b****ing about what they don’t understand. And strike demand $63,000 starting pay? None of the remaining staff new or old are worth this kind of money.

  5. I know more about cars than any of their writers. I can write better than any of their writers. I would love to write about cars for $63,000 a year and I have applied. Let’s see what happens.

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