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The WGA East slammed HuffPost and took aim at the Trump administration in a statement Thursday, following the news that the company will be laying off 30 editorial staffers in the coming weeks.
“Management has chosen to slash our newsroom by over 20% at a time when the Trump administration is waging an unrelenting series of attacks on the most marginalized members of society, which is why it is so crucial that HuffPost continue to educate the public and hold those in power accountable — only now we are expected to do so with fewer reporters, editors and designers,” the statement read.
The union also says that HuffPost management has refused to share any information to back up its own claims that the layoffs were financially necessary, adding that the newsroom had “a year of record-breaking traffic and nonstop coverage of a divisive election.”
As noted in the memo sent to HuffPost staffers by editor-in-chief Danielle C. Belton on Thursday, some employees are being offered buyout packages, which could ultimately help lessen the impact of layoffs by allowing staff to voluntarily leave.
However, while the WGA East acknowledged that as a win thanks to protections from their latest collective bargaining agreement, the union says it’s “disappointed” that many will now have to decide between relocating and taking a buyout — and that anyone who does take a buyout is an “immeasurable talent” the newsroom has now lost.
“Today, more than ever, we are grateful for the strong severance protections we secured through collective action — but we are incredibly disappointed that management has chosen to make these unnecessary and unwarranted cuts,” the statement concluded.
The news of the HuffPost layoffs, which Belton attributed to “growing challenges to our business,” came just days after the Washington Post announced that it would be laying off about 100 employees. Both are just the latest in a steady stream of media layoffs over a tumultuous few years.
The WGA East isn’t the only labor union with Hollywood ties to recently criticize the Trump administration since the inauguration, though it is one of the first. Earlier this week, IATSE issued a statement saying the President had “gone too far” in escalating tensions between the United States and Canada.
