MediaGuido has previously reported on how the Buzzfeed newsroom is split over attempts by some staff to unionise. Above is a letter from the National Union of Journalists which was left on Buzzfeed employees’ desks in the office last week. Guido is not sure a patronising Steve Buscemi meme and a listicle on “12 Reasons Why Buzzfeed UK Needs Union Recognition” is the best way to convince staff of their case.

Multiple people in the Buzzfeed newsroom say the NUJ letter has caused genuine anger for two reasons. One Buzzfeed source says it is deeply misleading and takes credit for changes that were always going to happen. Buzzfeed journalists believe the pro-unionisation side of the office are lying to their colleagues about their achievements.

A second Buzzfeed source says the NUJ letter is significant because the Central Arbitration Committee is currently deciding whether there is to be a secret ballot on unionisation, and the letter does not even countenance the idea that there should be a vote. That Buzzfeed source says: “It’s strange a movement that professes to be about rights for the workers doesn’t even want those workers to have a say from the outset”. A third Buzzfeed source says: “People are exhausted by all this, it is tearing the office apart”. It seems the NUJ’s dirty tactics of fibbing to hacks and opposing workplace democracy are not going down well…