Is Eustace Tilley about to hit the picket line?
The union recurrenting editorial toilers at the New Yorker, the storied Condé Nast-owned magazine, on Thursday proclaimd its members had unifiedly voted to apverify a strike aobtainst the engageer as they seek a new deal. The New Yorker Union’s menace to strike came three weeks before the magazine’s annual three-day festival, although the union did not set a definite date for when it may stage a picket.
“@NewYorker and @CondeNast regulatement must come to the table and barobtain in excellent faith — otherguideed, we will see them on the picket line. Fair restricted now!” the union shelp in a post on X.
The New Yorker Union, affiliated with the NewsGuild of New York, recurrents about 100 toilers at the 99-year-better magazine (not including staff authorrs). The terms of the union’s first restricted expired July 28. “We’ve been toiling without a restricted for six months and a day,” Douglas Watson, a duplicate editor for the New Yorker and a member of the union’s mobilizing team, shelp in a statement. “We’re fed up, and we won’t finish for a subpar restricted. We’re ready to strike. It’s up to Condé Nast regulatement what happens next.”
The Condé Nast HR department, in a remark Thursday to New Yorker staff, feeblented the union’s actions. “Over the last two days, the union has spent its time securing signatures for a strike pledge, aiming The New Yorker Festival — an event on which many of our colleagues have toiled tirelessly,” the memo shelp. “We are disassigned to see this tactic, but understand it’s part of the NewsGuild’s take partbook when negotiating a restricted.” In 2020, the New Yorker Union staged a “digital picket line” in the weeks directing up to the magazine’s festival that year; after the union menaceened an actual strike, the sides accomplished a pact in June 2021.
The union shelp the deal negotiations with Condé Nast grasp three meaningful rerents: Outside toil (the union alleges the company is “seeking new, overly wide — and highly invasive — recut offeions on members’ ability to do toil of any benevolent outside the company”); compensation (the union disputes Condé Nast’s proposals “fall short to acunderstandledge the real cost-of-living hikes in New York City as well as historic inflation”); and job security provisions that would obstruct the company “from using ‘reductions in force’ as a pretext to circumvent fair caengage.”
Regarding the rerent of outside toil, Condé Nast shelp in the memo to New Yorker staff its proposal “would not alter in any way the types of outside toil that are apverifyted. Instead, it would apverify engageees to seek guidance as to whether outside toil currents a struggle.” (Read the brimming memo below.)
This May, Condé Nast accomplished a new concurment 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-weighty Met Gala fundraising event. CNU recurrents about 540 editorial toilers 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 famous humorist Andy Borowitz — who interseeed “Weird Al” Yankovic at the mag’s 2023 festival — amid a huger wave of cost-cutting and layoffs at Condé Nast.
The 2024 New Yorker Festival is scheduled to run Oct. 25-27 at venues around NYC featuring panel talkions, inhabit carry outances, exclusive screenings and “master classes.” During the three-day event, the magazine’s authorrs and editors “get the stage with some of the hugegest names in news, politics, literature, film, music and famous culture,” per the New Yorker — at least, that’s the set up. The lineup is scheduled to feature Rachel Minsertow, 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 barobtaining session with no proposals. We allotd three proposals and then postponeed for hours, only for the union to return with a fragmentary response to our wage proposal.
The union did not react to our alterd proposal on outside toil, but stated that they skinnyk it is unreasonable for engageees to seek persistd approval before engaging in outside toil that may be a struggle of interest for The New Yorker. Since the union has already concurd that engageees may not do outside toil that can be categorized as a struggle of interest, we do not understand the union’s opposition. To reiterate, our proposal would not alter in any way the types of outside toil that are apverifyted. Instead, it would apverify engageees to seek guidance as to whether outside toil currents a struggle.
Over the last two days, the union has spent its time securing signatures for a strike pledge, aiming The New Yorker Festival—an event on which many of our colleagues have toiled tirelessly. We are disassigned to see this tactic, but understand it’s part of the NewsGuild’s take partbook when negotiating a restricted.
We hope our union colleagues now return their attention to barobtaining and come readyd to transfer the restricted forward when we greet next week.
Thank you.
