Quote, unquote: Setting a new industry standard

"...the contract sets a minimum salary of $50,000 for any full-time Gawker employee, a minimum of $70,000 for senior writers and editors, and a minimum of $90,000 for deputy editors and the editors-in-chief of some of Gawker’s smaller websites. The contract says every employee will be able to meet at least once yearly with his or her supervisor to discuss merit raises."

-- from a Guardian story about the union contract of the Writers Guild of America East with the digital media company Gawker. It is said to be the first commercial company contract of its kind. It provides for a 3% across-the-board pay raise each year for each of the 99 union members and provides that “Any decision on editorial content has to be made by the editorial side – not by business decisions or advertisers.”