Yet another Canadian journalistic organization appears to be in jeopardy.
Visitors to the Huffington Post Canada website learned today that it and Huffington Post Québec are no longer publishing content.
“Existing content will be maintained as an online archive; however, certain site features were permanently disabled as of March 12,” the website states. “For more great journalism, please visit HuffPost.com. We are grateful for your support and readership.”
In a statement the HuffPost Union said “33 of our unit members – nearly 30% of our unit – are being laid off.”
The union representing Canadian HuffPo staffers said on Twitter that operations are shutting down in Toronto and Quebec and “all of our staff are now out of a job.”
“We have been told this decision was made before our organizing effort and is not linked to our unionizing,” the union said. “Still, it is even more devastating in the wake of the hope and optimism we had following a strong union drive.”
Last month, CWA Canada filed the application to the Canada Industrial Relations Board after an “overwhelming majority” of the 23 staff members signed union cards. CWA Canada also represents workers at the CBC, Canadian Press and APTN.
According to the union, Huffington Post Canada and Huffington Post Québec employ staff in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal.
Last month, BuzzFeed purchased Huffington Post Canada from Verizon Media. BuzzFeed also announced layoffs in the HuffPost newsroom in the U.S. on Tuesday.
“Entering into our new partnership with BuzzFeed, we’re conscious of the fact that while our colleagues at HuffPost US, BuzzFeed Canada and BuzzFeed US are all unionized, our newsrooms are not,” the organizing committee stated last month on its website. “We’ve seen the way our colleagues’ union status has protected the conditions they fought for throughout the sale of HuffPost”.
“As we continue through this transition, we need to be afforded that same degree of certainty that we will be able to do the jobs we love, under safer and more fair conditions.”
The best known HuffPost Canada employee is its Ottawa bureau chief, Althia Raj, who is a regular on the CBC At Issue panel.
BuzzFeed is a U.S.-based private company founded in 2006 by its CEO, Jonah Peretti, and John S. Johnson III.
Read full statement by the HuffPost Union, which represents workers in the United States, below:
Today, we learned that 33 of our unit members — nearly 30% of our unit — are being laid off. Our union’s statement: “We are devastated and infuriated, particularly after an exhausting year of covering a pandemic and working from home.” (1/x) pic.twitter.com/xphgR3F8UI
— HuffPost Union (@HuffPostUnion) March 9, 2021
This story originally appeared in the Georgia Straight. With files from NOW staff.
