The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) has formally applied to represent workers for Vice Canada.

The workers want to form a union in the editorial, marketing and production/post-production departments of the media company founded in Montreal in 1994, now a multi-billion dollar organization based in Brooklyn, New York.

"We've heard from creative and digital media workers that they want fair pay, benefits, and sustainable working conditions," Martin O'Hanlon, president of CWA Canada, the CMG's parent union, said in a release. "The decision by Vice Canada staff to unionize is a first step to a better life for them and it is a beacon for others to follow."

To successfully apply for Vice to be unionized, CMG must prove to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) that 40 per cent of the company's Canadian workers have signed a union card.

Want better salaries, benefits

Vice employees began the unionizing process in December, and listed better salaries and benefits, for both full-time and contract workers, along with more transparency and communication between management and employees, among their objectives.

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Vice Canada has 35 operations in Canada, including offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. It launched a specialty TV network, Viceland, in February.

The move is the latest in a series of online-first media organizations unionizing, including the Huffington Post, Gawker and Salon.

VICE's American employees joined the Writers Guild of America East in 2015, and its U.K. employees are seeking union recognition with the National Union of Journalists.

The Canadian Media Guild represents 6,000 workers in Canadian media, including CBC and the Canadian Press.