WeMakeWAMU is a union
@WeMakeWAMU
Followers
4,051
Following
289
Media
105
Statuses
1,263
We are the reporters, hosts, producers, engineers, and content creators who power @wamu885 and @DCist . Union strong with @sagaftra . #WeMakeWAMU
Washington, DC
Joined August 2020
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
FREENBECKY AT 9ENT
• 1166011 Tweets
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BTS
• 358643 Tweets
Namorados
• 342524 Tweets
Congreso
• 285456 Tweets
Ley Bases
• 264011 Tweets
Ciotti
• 214647 Tweets
Jerry West
• 145600 Tweets
$COOKIE
• 91744 Tweets
Elon Musk
• 86559 Tweets
The Logo
• 84744 Tweets
DIVINE PERFECTION SUNG HANBIN
• 83784 Tweets
Happy 11th
• 79265 Tweets
Reconquête
• 71574 Tweets
Zemmour
• 69286 Tweets
Sky TV
• 61006 Tweets
Rohit
• 60247 Tweets
#INDvsUSA
• 58427 Tweets
Kohli
• 57586 Tweets
Polis
• 53223 Tweets
Jamundí
• 50390 Tweets
Mancuso
• 38215 Tweets
Adventure Time
• 36865 Tweets
Powell
• 34399 Tweets
Tagesschau
• 27863 Tweets
Regular Show
• 20574 Tweets
Super 8
• 18328 Tweets
Bullrich
• 14442 Tweets
Trabajo Infantil
• 12756 Tweets
Dube
• 12619 Tweets
Thiago Motta
• 12196 Tweets
Inter Miami
• 11037 Tweets
Perrine
• 10685 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
This morning,
@wamu885
management informed us they are laying off 15 vital people from our organization. These individuals are the lifeblood of our journalism. Our hearts are broken. We can’t believe we are losing our colleagues and friends.
31
356
780
18
205
681
If you believe in the power of local journalism to hold the government accountable, to bring levity to your day, or to tell you something new about the region you love, please consider emailing epulleyhayes
@wamu
.org to save DCist. We rely on readers and listeners like you.
25
312
529
It is imperative that
@SylviaBurwell
, Seth Grossman, Erika Pulley-Hayes, and Michael Tribble
#UnlockDCist
. It’s a matter of democracy.
See our letter below. We encourage you to share:
8
312
406
WAMU management and
@AmericanU
, which owns our license, has let us and you — our listeners, readers, and members — down. They have failed to steward the service we all rely on. We know the journalism industry is struggling, but poor leadership has led us to this moment.
6
121
371
We are glad that
@AmericanU
and
@WAMU
leadership unlocked DCist. Making the archives available to the public is the right thing to do. We thank you for your support.
We continue to be concerned about the way WAMU handled the shut down of
@DCist
and laid off critical colleagues.
Breaking:
@wamu885
has made access to all published DCist stories available to the public for at least one year as it seeks a long-term home for the archive. The archives are available at
Story:
7
331
675
3
104
334
Thank you listeners and readers for your support. We don’t know what will happen at this morning's meeting.
But we will keep the public informed. That’s what we do. ✊
#WeMakeWAMU
.
#WeReadWAMU
Ominous email sent to WAMU staff this afternoon about a “new strategic framework” to be announced Friday morning. Their offices will be closed to have the "time and space" to have these convos-- WAMU won't publish anything online, and they're automating starting 8pm.
118
415
1K
1
55
270
The
#WeMakeWAMU
union has signed its FIRST contract! 💪
Our unit overwhelmingly voted yes to a three-year agreement with WAMU and American University.
It took 40 months of organizing and hard work, but we've secured guaranteed raises, new salary floors, and a seat at the table.
11
66
213
UPDATE:
@wamu885
managers will not renew the contracts of 13 of our essential colleagues.
Many joined us at the start of the pandemic to handle a crush of news. By the end of 2020, most of them will be without a job.
7
127
204
The brutal shutdown of
@DCist
and heartless layoffs mean the end of our popular series Overheard In D.C.
Let's look back at a few of our favorites:
7
41
190
WAMU saved DCist in 2018, acquiring the journalists, website, and social media after the original owner shuttered everything without notice. Now WAMU — and
@AmericanU
— is doing the same.
3
57
178
A curt email on Thursday followed by a short Friday morning announcement undid years of work. That’s thousands of daily stories, countless hours of work, and many, many community voices… all gone.
4
45
158
Thanks to
@citystatebeer
for hosting us last night.
Leadership's abrupt layoffs via Zoom/email meant workers were not able to support each other in person until later in the day.
And thank you to everyone for your solidarity ✊
All the reporters laid off from WAMU/DCist today drink for free today in the taproom.
If they fired you in the past it's a 20% discount.
13
239
2K
0
9
144
Let's take a second to appreciate who makes WAMU: Audio engineers.
We have 4 full time engineers and 1 contractor who support hosts so you can listen to Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and 1A. They control the mics and the music plus keep track of the clock and programs.
2
26
140
.
@DCist
and all of its reporters still matter.
@MayorBowser
said on
@politicshour
that she read
@jennygathright
's coverage on the crime bill, which is up for a final vote tomorrow, to prepare for the show: "Having fair, balanced reporting about critical issues is helpful to us."
2
31
138
Today is our second day of negotiations with
@AmericanU
.
Clear eyes, full hearts, let's 👏 get 👏 a 👏 contract! 👏
5
15
119
It's our Opening Day – the day we share our contract proposals with
@AmericanU
for a fairer and more equitable
@wamu885
!
It's our first big step after winning our union election (with ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the vote).
4
20
111
It might be 🥶 outside, but it's a 🔥 day for negotiating!
We're going back to the table with
@AmericanU
today to fight for our
@wamu885
/
@DCist
colleagues.
1 like = 1 cheer of support for fair, equitable working conditions for all.
2
11
108
Our leadership has been promising a new “content strategy” to guide our work and solve our budget deficit for nearly a year. But deadlines were missed. And despite the newsroom’s best efforts to be involved in the process, our attempts were in vain. 🧵
1
31
101
Big update!
@AmericanU
wants to suppress ONE THIRD (!) of the content creators in our union from voting.
As we move toward a union election, we believe it's essential that all content creators' voices are heard in our union, starting with their vote.
4
40
90
“The most worrisome thing about the
@DCist
shutdown, however, is the possibility of D.C. becoming a news desert.”
D.C. is home to many national news organizations but most don’t focus coverage on the city itself, writes
@alanaparker23
for
@TheEagleOnline
:
2
34
90
UPDATE: It's been 3 weeks since we announced our union and it is clear
@AmericanU
is not going to voluntarily recognize us.
So, we’re heading to a vote. We filed with the National Labor Relations Board to have an election and we remain undeterred and ready to vote YES!
2
26
88
Management claims their decision is a pivot to “audio excellence.” But audio journalists were laid off. And The Politics Hour, which has recently set market share records for its timeslot, was forced to cancel the Friday airing of the show at the last minute. It’s damaging.
2
19
84
In case you haven't heard, staff members at
@wamu885
are unionizing. And we're still asking
@AmericanU
to voluntarily recognize our union!
Why are we organizing? Here are a few reasons.
1
45
84
Today is a good day to
#UnlockDCist
.
Please sign our letter demanding that
@AmericanU
,
@SylviaBurwell
, Seth Grossman, and Erika Pulley-Hayes make
@DCist
publicly accessible. We need to preserve local history.
We appreciate your support thus far.
1
45
83
.
@wamu885
&
@AmericanU
: we know times are tough. But this decision was made unilaterally and conveniently, right before we formed our union.
We’re calling on you to reinstate our colleagues so we can continue to report the news our listeners rely on.
1
15
81
.
@wamu885
leadership claims it laid off 16 people about two weeks ago because of a pivot to audio excellence.
But individuals laid off helped the station produce excellent audio.
For example, this afternoon on
@NPR
and WAMU, you will hear
@JacobFenston
's lab-grown meat story
2
29
78
We encourage you to share what
@DCist
means to you:
4
25
78
.
@mhbaskin
was our housing reporter. No one spoke truth to power like Morgan. Her investigations were impactful including this one looking into predatory landlords who are gutting the city’s supply of affordable apartments:
0
22
77
Last week alone, these reporters — many are known as “surge staffers” — filed 22 web stories and a dozen audio pieces.
Besides the lack of job security, there is NO difference between a surge staffer and a DCist/WAMU employee — because their reporting work is exactly the same.
1
9
75
happy friday 👋🏾 I'm Alexya (
@whoislexybrown
) and I'm taking over for today!
I'm currently the audience producer at
@DCist
, managing our social accounts, creating the DCist Daily newsletter, and tracking the ways our journalism impacts the community ⭐️
let's start the day!
1
7
74
A vast majority of us — at WAMU, DCist, 1A, and The Politics Hour — were prevented from airing or publishing news Friday after management blocked access to our office and content management systems. We’ve spent the last 18 hours wondering if we were about to lose our jobs.
2
24
73
Since we started negotiating our contract with
@AmericanU
in February 2021, we’ve lost over 30% of our bargaining unit.
#WeMakeWAMU
3
36
66
If you support WAMU’s most vulnerable workers, share this thread. Contact WAMU leadership with the link below and email Seth Grossman at sethg
@american
.edu.
1
18
62
Now our newsroom is even smaller. Let our general manager and her boss know that you stand by
#WeMakeWAMU
and public media at epulleyhayes
@wamu
.org and sethg
@american
.edu.
5
20
61
We are deeply committed to our work. We know our WAMU listeners and DCist readers count on us to provide news, context, inspiration and joy. We are honored every day by your trust and your support.
2
9
61
.
@hectoraarzate
was the only full-time reporter covering immigrant communities in the D.C. region. and would share stories with sensitivity and care. We will miss web and audio vignettes like this one:
1
14
61
We're the voices you hear on the radio. We’re the people behind the scenes, on air and online.
2
8
61
These losses harm our community the most. We are losing critical journalists to make sense of the moment. If you are a reader or listener, we ask that you let our general manager know that you stand by
#WeMakeWAMU
and journalists at epulleyhayes
@wamu
.org.
2
26
54
They bring us the latest updates on COVID-19 in the area, plus all the other coverage you expect that hasn’t stopped.
Surge staffers have produced some of the most-read stories on our website this year, covering Election 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests and more.
1
6
49
Washingtonian CEO Cathy Merrill extols the virtues of working in-person before casually threatening to downgrade or eliminate employment if people choose to continue to work remotely.
2
7
49
0
21
48
Today, we're back at the negotiation table with
@AmericanU
!
We've met them 12 times this year, fighting for safety and health protocols in the return to the office, fairer compensation for working overtime, training and apprenticeship opportunities and so much more!
3
9
48
We're organizing for:
✔️ Fair compensation and pay equity, especially for our Black and POC staff
✔️ Support for freelancers, part-time and temp staff
✔️ Actionable plans to retain and grow a diverse staff
… and more.
1
5
47
Good morning babies! It’s me,
@EstherCinDC
, host of Morning Edition
@wamu885
. I’ve seized control of the
#wemakewamu
Twitter today. Follow along for a fun behind the scenes look at life before the sun rises. It starts with this HUGE cup of coffee.
4
6
45
.
@JacobFenston
was the only local environment reporter in D.C. and was the most senior reporter on staff. He’s a rare audio talent who trained our newsroom to make beautiful radio. We'll miss his feature reporting, like this one about regional tree health:
1
13
46
We're excited to organize with
@sagaftra
, joining our colleagues at places like
@MprApmUnion
,
@MPRMusicUnions
,
@wemakekuow
,
@WeMakeWBUR
,
@WHYYUnion
,
@wemakeKCRW
,
@wbez
,
@wnyc
and
@wemakenpr
. (And any others we've missed!)
2
5
44
Good morning y’all! Don’t mind me and my big ol mug. I’m
@hrzate
, an associate producer for
@1a
taking over the
#WeMakeWAMU
account today. Follow along for some info about what exactly I do and why I care about our union!
2
11
42
This
@ecwilliams30
story lays out beautifully why
@DCist
was and continues to be an immeasurable resource for our community.
0
17
41
Washingtonian's CEO Cathy Merrill asks: "How will we persuade new employees to come aboard, and, more importantly, stay?"
UNIONIZE 😉
1
4
42
Best news of the summer?!
We stand in solidarity with
@WashGuild
. ✊🏾✊🏻✊🏿✊🏼✊🏾✊🏽
We, the editorial staff of Washingtonian, are organizing with
@newsguild
to form a union and ensure that every member of our team feels they have a voice. Today, we’re asking Washingtonian’s management to recognize our union. (⅕)
12
138
529
0
7
43
Because we're journalists and we know
@wamu885
listeners love detail, we have more info on our historic vote to unionize today.
Nerdy thread:
2
1
42
WAMU is a flagship NPR member station. We’ve continued to be the most-listened-to radio station in the D.C. market for nearly two years, according to management’s own data.
1
8
39
This morning, content staff at
@wamu885
sent a letter to station leadership and
@AmericanU
expressing our concerns about staff cutbacks that will affect our ability to deliver local news during the pandemic.
Read the letter here:
0
26
40
As a union, we are prepared to work with
@AU
management to figure out how we can prevent these potential reductions and make sure our team keeps bringing you the amazing content you expect from our show.
1
2
39
Our energy today as we show up to the negotiation table with
@AmericanU
to fight for the fair and equitable workplace that
@wamu885
@DCist
content creators deserve 🔥🔥
#WeMakeWAMU
1
13
39
We are disappointed that we couldn’t publish the final batch of overheards last Friday because WAMU unceremoniously shut down DCist and laid off critical colleagues. We got a lot of submissions and several thanked DCist for the levity. Thanks for sharing your overheards with us♥️
1
4
39
This lack of care for the journalism our community relies on extends to personnel decisions. Over the last two years, 20 journalists have left our station. For many, that was due in part to a loss of faith in leadership.
1
9
36
We have a strong and engaged membership, and we have a track record of impactful journalism. We refuse to believe our financial challenges are insurmountable.
1
8
36
And, we stand in solidarity with staff at American University who have filed a petition to form a union with
@SEIULocal500
. Not to mention
@AUGradUnion
!
2
7
38
✨Exciting update!✨One week since announcing our union with
@sagaftra
, we have filed with the
@NLRB
.
We're still hoping to work with
@AmericanU
to recognize our union, so we can get to the negotiating table sooner & keep focusing on creating news and content.
#WeMakeWAMU
0
21
38
WAMU management has justified
@DCist
's shutdown and layoffs by pointing to outside research and consultant reports.
Support our
@austaffunion
comrades who fear a similar fate:
Calling the AU community! Demand the administration stop hiding behind Huron, and bring staff, faculty, and students in to the decision-making process with an open community forum!
0
7
20
0
15
38
Good morning!
@AmericanU
still wants to exclude essential
@wamu885
content creators from voting for our union.
Frankly, that's a bunch of baloney. Our colleagues are key to
@wamu885
and the community they serve, and we want to introduce you to some of them!
1
12
36
There has been little attempt from our leadership to listen to our staffing concerns or understand the impact attrition is having on our ability to provide the information our community deserves.
1
6
35
Most of those positions were not replaced, but remaining staff still continued to provide a stellar news product to our community. Critical beats, including D.C. government, Maryland, education, and transportation have gone unfilled for months or even years.
1
7
35
The contract includes:
- Guaranteed pay raises, plus merit raises
- Union reps on the DEI Committee + required tracking of goals
- More room for professional development and job growth
- Protections and pay equity for part-timers
- Mandatory posting of salary min on union job ads
1
5
34
And now, we'll have to make the show with even fewer people. That means fewer listener voicemails, fewer live questions, fewer topics we can cover. We think this potential reduction of our team threatens the high quality you've come to expect from
@1a
.
2
3
35
⬇️⬇️⬇️
When WAMU laid off 16 people and closed DCist, the reasoning given was “content strategy word salad," per one staffer.
@abeaujon
cuts through the jargon and nonsense with a deeply reported, excellent look at what actually happened:
11
143
316
0
9
34
Today and tomorrow, we’re going to spend time lifting up our beloved colleagues — inside and outside the newsroom — and the work they did to keep our community informed.
1
8
34
1A airs on more than 435 member stations. Millions of people listen, engage with our work online, and submit comments and questions we read live on the air.
2
2
34
Today, we are back at the bargaining table to fight for fair wages and compensation for WAMU content creators.
Our goal: We want to retain the irreplaceable talent we have and offer fair wages to new colleagues.
@AmericanU
, what’s yours?
0
7
33
Excited to return to the negotiation table today! ✊🏽✊🏿✊🏻✊🏾
@AmericanU
, let's get closer to a contract we can all be proud of.
0
1
33
Want to support us? Share this thread. Want to get in touch? Our DMs are open and you can reply directly to us. Thanks for tuning in! 📻
#WeMakeWAMU
1
5
32
Plus, voluntary recognition from
@AmericanU
means less time wading through this process and more time bringing you the news during this historic year.
1
4
32
I’m here! It’s me,
@mikafrak
. I’m excited to take you through my day and give you my perspective on our union.
#WeMakeWAMU
I’m taking over the
@WeMakeWAMU
account today - follow along to hear about my day and why being part of the union matters to me!
0
2
19
1
3
32
Thirteen unit members work on 1A. They pitch shows, book guests, write scripts, figure out how the guest will come to you live...all of this and more fall on producers.
2
2
32
Want to tell them to
#UnlockDCist
yourself? Email:
sylvia.burwell
@american
.edu
sethg
@american
.edu
epulleyhayes
@wamu
.org
mtribble
@wamu
.org
1
21
32
We're asking for voluntary recognition from
@AmericanU
, which owns the license for
@wamu885
. We know that as a union, we can work to ensure that all employees feel empowered, valued and safe.
1
5
31
We couldn't have done it without our 55 union members, past members, the help and support of SAG-AFTRA, and listeners/allies. We are stronger together!
The concerted effort to make WAMU a great workplace doesn't end here. But for now, thank you and SOLIDARITY! 💪✊🎉
#WeMakeWAMU
0
4
30
We're dedicated to reporting the news, creating enriching content and building and serving a community that trusts us. In all aspects, our audience expects transparency and integrity. We’re committed to meeting that high standard.
1
3
31
Thread on how
@wamu885
could have handled layoffs differently 👇
0
14
31
.
@AbbeyMonsour
was our audience producer. How did our Instagram and newsletter balloon in recent times? Well in part thanks to her. She has a knack for knowing what resonates with our DCist/WAMU audiences and our journalism had a greater impact because of it.
1
9
31
Sending solidarity to the staff at AU organizing with
@SEIULocal500
who have their union vote count today! We'll be right behind ya in voting UNION YES! 💌🗳️💪
0
9
30
We want to be clear: DCist/WAMU was always a huge team effort. Our journalists balanced both audio and digital work. Our tech, business, and membership teams powered that work and made sure it could get to you, our community. Now, leadership has hobbled our team.
1
7
30