Reporters at the newly merged DNAinfo New York and Gothamist news sites will join the growing Writers Guild of America–East union, they announced Wednesday morning.

Employees emailed Gothamist founders Jen Chung and Jake Dobkin, now vice presidents at DNAinfo, with the news in the form of a joint statement.

"In light of our recent merger, we think that this is the moment to determine fair policies regarding compensation, benefits, termination, severance and editorial standards," they said. "Together, we can come up with a contract that provides us with needed safeguards and benefits while also assuring management's ability to keep the sites robust and compelling for years to come."

The Writers Guild confirmed that it has collected union authorization cards from 25 editorial staff members including all the DNAinfo reporters and Gothamist writers. Both newsrooms had been talking with the union prior to the merger. The uncertainty around the deal catalyzed a quick agreement among staff.

“Everything happened and we didn’t have a seat at the table," said Noah Hurowitz, a DNAinfo reporter and member of the organizing committee. "And we want to be able to have some collective voice in the future of the company."

A company spokeswoman confirmed that the executives had received the letter and said they have yet to decide how to respond. "At this point, DNAinfo is considering its options, but whatever the company decides to do, it will be in accord with both the letter and spirit of the National Labor Relations Act," she said. "Beyond this, we have nothing more to say at this time.”

DNAinfo will be the 11th New York–based digital news organization that the Writers Guild of America–East has organized in the past two years, an effort kicked off by Gawker staff. Roughly 650 new members hail from media companies including MTV News, Salon and Vice.

But unlike some of those more left-leaning sites, DNAinfo is owned by a conservative activist, Joe Ricketts, the founder of Ameritrade. He has been a major backer of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who championed so-called right-to-work legislation in that state. Ricketts' son Pete, the governor of Nebraska and a former Ameritrade executive, told a congressional hearing that he does not believe union participation "is necessary."

“When we had issues with folks who worked at Ameritrade, we tried to work them out," the governor said, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

DNAinfo executives seem to be of the same mind, according to the Daily News. Chief Operating Officer Dan Swartz threatened staff with the prospect of closure should they choose to unionize, the News reported.

"Would a union be the final straw that caused the business to be closed? I don't know,” Swartz wrote, noting that the site has not been profitable and suggesting employees concentrate on that "shared focus."

Lowell Peterson, executive director of Writers Guild of America–East, called that argument "silly."

"If the business is good, it will remain good," Peterson said, and likewise if not. "Unionizing will not change the underlying numbers."

In the last week of February, DNAinfo laid off five top staff members including managing editor Mike Ventura and star criminal justice editor Murray Weiss. (That followed an accidental all-staff email from Ricketts, twice-recalled, in which the owner asked for information on anyone earning more than $100,000 a year.) A week later Gothamist announced that Ricketts had bought it. Last week DNAinfo laid off two senior reporters, Danielle Tcholakian and Irene Plagianos, and an editor.

Peterson said the employees hope Ricketts will voluntarily recognize the union, given that the vast majority of the editorial staff signed cards. But Ricketts could call for an election or ignore the request completely.