HuffPost Writers Approve 3-Year Contract: AI Safeguards, Higher Floors, Better Leave
Writers at HuffPost, represented by the Writers Guild of America East, have unanimously ratified a three-year deal that couples pay increases with clear rules on AI. It lands as many newsrooms renegotiate contracts and AI becomes a core bargaining issue.
- AI guardrails: Human review of all published content, advance notice before editorial AI tools roll out, and a ban on AI impersonation.
- Pay and floors: Salary minimums up nearly 10%, with the lowest floor at $66,625. Most staff get 3% annual bumps; 3.4% for those under $92,000.
- Benefits: Improved parental leave, unlimited sick leave, protected severance, and more funds for professional development.
What the AI rules actually do
The contract requires a human to review everything that gets published. It also mandates advance notice and details before management introduces any new AI tool in an editorial role-no surprises, no silent tests on live content.
There's explicit protection against AI impersonating employees. Language in the deal aims to stop automated systems from scraping, mimicking, or reusing bylines and work without consent-safeguarding present and future staff.
For context on newsroom standards, see the WGAE and the Associated Press' published approach to generative AI use in reporting and editing here.
Money, floors, and time off
Salary minimums rise by roughly 10%, pushing the lowest floor to $66,625, which the unit says is the highest starting salary among its online media contracts. Several members will see individual raises in the $5,000-$8,000 range.
Most staff receive 3% yearly increases, with a 3.4% bump for those earning below $92,000. On the quality-of-life side, the deal codifies parental leave, guarantees unlimited sick leave, protects severance, and expands training budgets.
Why it matters for writers
This is the unit's fourth contract since recognition in 2016, and it covers 69 members. Beyond wage gains, the AI provisions set a clear standard for editorial control and worker identity-rules many writers want baked into policy before tools move from experiment to workflow.
If you're bargaining next, start with this checklist
- Require human review of all published content where AI assists.
- Mandate advance notice and documentation before any AI tools are added to editorial processes.
- Ban AI impersonation and protect bylines, voice, and work from automated reuse without consent.
- Define data boundaries: how drafts, edits, and archives can (or cannot) train internal or third-party models.
- Secure pay floors and annual increases that outpace inflation and reflect added AI-era skill demands.
- Codify parental leave, unlimited sick time, severance, and a clear discipline/appeals process for AI-related disputes.
- Fund skills training tied to measurable outcomes. See AI for Writers for practical workflows and byline-safe practices.
Union statement: "We stood firm in protecting safeguards that support a diverse and representative newsroom. We did not let industry uncertainty around technology stop us from securing AI protections. We refused to sell out future workers for short-term promises. And we were able to do this because 100% of our members were unified about what the contract we deserved looked like, and what we were willing to do to secure it."
The contract runs three years.
Your membership also unlocks:
