Media Advisory: Fortune Magazine Union Members File Board Charges and Walk Out

03/16/2021

MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: March 16, 2021
Contact: Josh Austin, josh@nyguild.org | (484) 269-0158

Media Advisory: Fortune Magazine Union Members File Board Charges and Walk Out

WHAT: This morning (3/16/21), the editorial employees comprising the Fortune Union are walking off the job at 9 a.m. for one day and holding an informal press conference and rally at 10:30 a.m. to expose management’s bad-faith in negotiations with the NewsGuild of New York, the worker’s bargaining representative, and to demand a fair, equitable contract. As a result of management’s egregious behavior, the Fortune Union has filed six Labor Board charges against management. 

WHO: The editorial employees of Fortune magazine

WHEN & WHERE: Today, 3/16/21, at 10:30 a.m. ET via Zoom. You can access the conference and rally here. 

WHY:  Fortune’s union members are done asking nicely. Fortune has led the way in defining the traits of a responsible company. Yet management’s actions with its own staff are antithetical to the inclusive values Fortune espouses not only in its pages, but also in its broader corporate relationships. In addition to ignoring the impactful contract language the union has presented, the company has encouraged an environment of silence on pay, telling union members to keep their salaries secret. This has created a significant wage disparity, in which women make 84% of what men in the unit do on average, and workers of color make 78% what their white colleagues do.

The Fortune Union has been at the bargaining table with Fortune management for nearly a year and half, with little movement toward a fair contract. The union has gone out of its way to bargain in good faith and present equitable and fair proposals that reflect the value of the Fortune staff. Management, however, continues to act in bad faith, subverting the bargaining process and the collective voice of its workers. 

While the union presented its robust diversity proposal in November 2019, management refuses to commit to diversity and inclusion at the table by failing to bargain with us. Additionally, Fortune management has, in violation of labor law, implemented a new performance evaluation system without negotiating with the union. We have serious concerns about this system, which has been shown to undermine the value and quality of our journalism and the content we produce. This is why it must be created collaboratively. 

Today, the editorial employees of Fortune are walking out for one day to demand management come to the table in good faith to negotiate a fair contract with its workers. #FortuneWalksOut

Informational sheet here. 

BACKGROUND: For decades, Fortune magazine has been represented by the NewsGuild of New York. After Meredith Corp. sold the magazine in Dec. 2018 to Fortune Media Group Holdings Limited, owned by Chatchaval Jiaravanon, the digital staffers of Fortune requested voluntary recognition to join their fellow union-represented print colleagues as members of the NewsGuild of New York. During the sale, though Jiaravanon stated that he would honor the union contract, management denied voluntary recognition to the digital workers. The Fortune Union won their union on May 21, 2019, with a 20-3 vote via third-party election. 

Access the press conference and rally here. 

Speakers: 
McKenna Moore, Fortune Magazine  
Sy Mukherjee, Fortune Magazine 
Rey Mashayekhi, Fortune Magazine  
Cady Lang, TIME 
Susan DeCarava, President, The NewsGuild of New York

Interview Opportunities: 

  • Fortune Magazine Union Members 
    • Jake Meth
    • McKenna Moore
    • Sy Mukherjee 
  • Susan DeCarava, President, The NewsGuild of New York 

Useful links:

 

ABOUT THE NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK
The NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America, is a labor union representing nearly 4,000 media professionals and other employees at New York area news organizations, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Thomson Reuters, The Nation, BuzzFeed News, TIME, PEOPLE, Wirecutter, and The Daily Beast. The NewsGuild of New York advocates for journalists to have a voice in the newsroom, for press freedom, for inclusive and diverse workplaces, and for just cause, no exceptions, for all media professionals.

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