Breaking media news from the Central Arbitration Committee: Buzzfeed has failed in its bid to prevent its employees from forming a union chapel. Buzzfeed management hired pricey lawyers from Matrix Chambers to essentially argue that they had laid off so many staff that the number supporting collective bargaining had fallen below the 50% threshold. Buzzfeed staff reading today’s judgement will be left wondering if bosses fired pro-unionisation employees to prevent them from forming a chapel…

The Employer stated that the restructuring process was completed today and as of the close of business a total of 22 people within the company had left BuzzFeed. The Employer believed that a number of those who left the business after requesting voluntary redundancy, were members of the Union. The Employer further stating that “this fundamental change to the proposed bargaining unit may have a significant impact on the density of union members and support within the proposed bargaining unit for recognition.”

Two Buzzfeed journalists – Kelly Oakes and Francis Whittaker – gave evidence on behalf of the union. Both were then let go…

The committee came to a decision today that the threshold favouring recognition had been met and so the application for collective bargaining to be recognised should proceed. Buzzfeed spent big bucks trying to stop this from happening, and failed…