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The already fragile relationship between Condé Nast and the union that represents more than 400 of its staff in vanity fair, Fashion and GQamong other publications, it seems to be hanging by a thread.
On Wednesday afternoon, about 35 members of the Condé Union marched to executives’ offices to protest additional layoffs they say were threatened during Tuesday’s labor negotiations. During Tuesday’s negotiating session on a first contract, the company said it intended to add five more employees to its pre-existing list of employees who will be eliminated and warned that the company could add more, according to the Condé Union, which also represents to the Condé workers. unpleasant entertainment, Enjoy, Seduction, Architectural Digest, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Teen Vogue, Glamor and Be. (Some New Yorker Employees bargain in a separate union.)
The Condé Union further alleges that the company did not present any counterproposals to the previous week’s union requests (on remote work and paid time off, for example) during Tuesday’s Zoom meeting, which management apparently ended abruptly.
Meanwhile, Condé Nast on Tuesday filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Condé Union’s umbrella labor organization, the NewsGuild of New York, for “shallow and bad faith bargaining,” according to a company memo distributed to staff that belongs to the Condé Union. . The company’s reasons include that in four months of negotiation “they (the union) have yet to seriously address our workforce reduction proposal,” making only one proposal related to layoffs in December that called for a minimum of seven months of severance pay. and COBRA for those affected. personnel and requesting only 28 cuts, instead of the 94 originally proposed.
“We have also informed the union that we will begin proposing cost-saving measures to offset the cost of ongoing wage maintenance costs that are not in our 2024 budget,” the memo said. “Despite our best efforts to avoid this, the union’s delay leaves us no choice but to find these cost savings. “Today we told the union that we will be adding additional roles to the proposed reduction list.”
In a statement, NewsGuild of New York President Susan DeCarava called the accusation “a blatant attempt to force us to accept their (management’s) layoff plans.” And she added: “As we have done during negotiations, we are willing to negotiate when management wants to stop the theater and negotiate in good faith.”
The new layoffs were proposed almost two weeks after Axios reported That Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch said the company “has no plans to make further reductions,” has irritated the union and its members. Lynch first announced that the company intended to lay off five percent of its workforce on November 1, and the Condé Union has been negotiating those cuts since then. Before Tuesday, the company told the union that it was studying 94 union members, or 20 percent of the Condé Union. “What happened on Tuesday was a blatant example of how the administration plays with people’s livelihoods,” vanity fair said social media manager Mark Alan Burger in a statement. “It is simply unacceptable and we are proving it today.”
According vanity fair Editor and union steward Erin Vanderhoof, who attended Wednesday’s protest, and Lynch and chief content officer and global editorial director Anna Wintour were not present in the offices during the demonstration. Management gathered in a room while staff demonstrated. “I can’t tell you where those five jobs came from or even if it’s only five because it wasn’t clear, but I can tell you that some of the people already on the list are instrumental in helping Condé Nast weather the storm. of the entire decade of digital media,” she said.
Employees on the layoff list have been told they will be reassigned to a group separate from their former brands to be called the “Central Content Unit,” according to a person familiar. While the exact work the CCU will do is still unknown (staff are supposed to receive their assignments on Monday, March 25), the group will report to Chris DiPresso, vice president of content operations and finance.
The Condé Union and management have negotiated a first union contract since September 2022. The relationship between those two parties has been contentious since the announcement of the November 1 layoffs, and the New York NewsGuild (the parent union of the Condé Union ) filed an initial unfair labor practice. charges against the company in January and staff going on strike on January 23, the day nominations for the 96th Academy Awards were announced, an important day for titles like vanity fair. The NLRB has not yet ruled on the NewsGuild’s unfair labor practice charge.
The parties are scheduled to return to negotiations on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Lachlan Cartwright.