Is Eustace Tilley about to hit the picket line?
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The union representing editorial workers at the New Yorker, the storied Condé Nast-owned magazine, on Thursday announced its members had unanimously voted to authorize a strike against the employer as they seek a new deal. The New Yorker Union’s threat to strike came three weeks before the magazine’s annual three-day festival, although the union did not set a specific date for when it may stage a picket.
“@NewYorker and @CondeNast management must come to the table and bargain in good faith — otherwise, we will see them on the picket line. Fair contract now!” the union said in a post on X.
The New Yorker Union, affiliated with the NewsGuild of New York, represents about 100 workers at the 99-year-old magazine (not including staff writers). The terms of the union’s first contract expired July 28. “We’ve been working without a contract for six months and a day,” Douglas Watson, a copy editor for the New Yorker and a member of the union’s mobilizing team, said in a statement. “We’re fed up, and we won’t settle for a subpar contract. We’re ready to strike. It’s up to Condé Nast management what happens next.”
The Condé Nast HR department, in a note Thursday to New Yorker staff, lamented the union’s actions. “Over the last two days, the union has spent its time securing signatures for a strike pledge, targeting The New Yorker Festival — an event on which many of our colleagues have worked tirelessly,” the memo said. “We are disappointed to see this tactic, but know it’s part of the NewsGuild’s playbook when negotiating a contract.” In 2020, the New Yorker Union staged a “digital picket line” in the weeks leading up to the magazine’s festival that year; after the union threatened an actual strike, the sides reached a pact in June 2021.
The union said the deal negotiations with Condé Nast involve three major issues: Outside work (the union alleges the company is “seeking new, overly broad — and highly invasive — restrictions on members’ ability to do work of any kind outside the company”); compensation (the union argues Condé Nast’s proposals “fail to acknowledge the true cost-of-living hikes in New York City as well as historic inflation”); and job security provisions that would prevent the company “from using ‘reductions in force’ as a pretext to circumvent just cause.”
Regarding the issue of outside work, Condé Nast said in the memo to New Yorker staff its proposal “would not change in any way the types of outside work that are permitted. Instead, it would allow employees to seek guidance as to whether outside work presents a conflict.” ( Read the full memo below. )
This May, Condé Nast reached a new agreement with the Condé Nast Union , which is also affiliated with the NewsGuild of New York — heading off a potential picket line in front of the company’s lavish annual celeb-heavy Met Gala fundraising event . CNU represents about 540 editorial workers at Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, GQ and other titles as well as Condé Nast Entertainment.
Separately, in December of last year, the New Yorker let go popular humorist Andy Borowitz — who interviewed “Weird Al” Yankovic at the mag’s 2023 festival — amid a larger wave of cost-cutting and layoffs at Condé Nast .
Condé Nast Reaches Deal With Union, Averting Picket Line at Met Gala
The 2024 New Yorker Festival is scheduled to run Oct. 25-27 at venues around NYC featuring panel discussions, live performances, exclusive screenings and “master classes.” During the three-day event, the magazine’s writers and editors “take the stage with some of the biggest names in news, politics, literature, film, music and popular culture,” per the New Yorker — at least, that’s the plan. The lineup is scheduled to feature Rachel Maddow, Seth Meyers, The National, Sara Bareilles, Audra McDonald, Alan Cumming, Julianne Moore, Jean Smart, Liz Cheney, Atul Gawande, and more.
Here’s the memo from Condé Nast HR to the staff of the New Yorker about the union strike-authorization vote, sent Thursday afternoon:
Hello everyone,
The union came to Tuesday’s bargaining session with no proposals. We shared three proposals and then waited for hours, only for the union to return with a partial response to our wage proposal.
The union did not respond to our revised proposal on outside work, but stated that they think it is unreasonable for employees to seek advanced approval before engaging in outside work that may be a conflict of interest for The New Yorker. Since the union has already agreed that employees may not do outside work that can be categorized as a conflict of interest, we do not understand the union’s opposition. To reiterate, our proposal would not change in any way the types of outside work that are permitted. Instead, it would allow employees to seek guidance as to whether outside work presents a conflict.
Over the last two days, the union has spent its time securing signatures for a strike pledge, targeting The New Yorker Festival—an event on which many of our colleagues have worked tirelessly. We are disappointed to see this tactic, but know it’s part of the NewsGuild’s playbook when negotiating a contract.
We hope our union colleagues now return their attention to bargaining and come prepared to move the contract forward when we meet next week.
Thank you.
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