Parcast announced the formation of The Parcast Union with the Writers Guild of America East. Parcast was acquired by Spotify in March of 2019. At the time I am writing this blog post, it is unclear to me what Spotify thinks about this situation.

The Verge reported that Parcast is the third Spotify-owned company that has decided to organize. It follows Gimlet Media (which Spotify acquired in February of 2019) and The Ringer (which Spotify acquired in February of 2020). I’m not sure what, exactly, this says about Spotify.

Here is a little bit from Parcast’s blog post about unionizing:

We, the writers, researchers, fact-checkers, hosts, and producers of Parcast, look to the future with optimism and excitement. But to ensure a workplace that remains dedicated to Spotify’s core values — collaboration, innovation, passion, playfulness, and sincerity — we have chosen to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East.

Through collective bargaining, we hope to achieve growth in the following areas:

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: A sincere commitment to creating a workplace as diverse and inclusive as the stories we tell.
• Workload & Overtime: A reasonable workload that leaves time for playfulness and innovation.
• Transparency & Compensation: Clear job descriptions, equitable compensation, transparent salary bands, and collaborative decision-making.
• Creativity & Intellectual Property: An environment where the ideas and voices of our passionate creators are valued and respected.

On September 3, 2020, Parcast Union tweeted: “UPDATE: Today, we met with Parcast leads and Spotify HR representatives in an All Hands Meeting. We look forward to our union being recognized so we can begin having a real dialogue.”

To me, it sounds like what Parcast is asking for is reasonable. A company as large and profitable as Spotify should have no problem providing Parcast with the things they are requesting.