Over 400 of the Media Giant’s Unionized Employees Staged a One-Day Walkout and Picket Line in Protest of Layoffs and Bargaining Practices
Staffers at Condé Nast staged a strike on Tuesday, January 23rd in protest of the media conglomerate’s planned layoffs. Over 400 unionized employees at Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, and other subsidiary publications walked off the job and staged a picket line at the company’s HQ.
The protest comes after Condé Nast announced on November 1 it was planning to cut 5% of its workforce. The company then revised the plan, announcing it would lay off 94 unionized members, or some 20% of the Condé Nast Union. The union’s bargaining team countered management’s proposal, offering a slimmer number of layoffs, more severance and a moratorium on cuts. The publisher’s most recent offer, issued earlier in January, kept the total number of cuts at 94 and almost halved the proposed severance, the union said.
The walkout was timed to coincide with the announcement of nominations for the 96th Academy Awards, an important news day for several of Condé Nast’s publications. To amplify their message, workers staged a mock red carpet as part of the picket line, as well as promoting a digital picket line and calling on readers to digitally boycott the company’s publications for one day.
“Media workers at Condé Nast are key to the company’s success and reputation for excellence. They deserve for their work to be respected on the job and at the bargaining table,” Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York, said in a statement. “Guild members in Condé Nast Union walked off the job today to remind management of their worth and urge company reps to bargain in good faith. We demand nothing less.”
