Condé Nast employees roll out the red carpet for a one-day strike against labor practices
On Tuesday, over 400 union workers from Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair and more Condé Nast brands walked out in protest of layoff negotiations.
Union workers of Condé Nast brands like Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ and more are protesting the media company’s negotiation conduct. On Tuesday, while the Academy Awards announced the 96th Oscar nominations, over 400 employees across publications staged a 24-hour strike.
Frustrated by the conditions, unionized workers organized the walkout and rally outside of the Condé Nast offices in New York City after union negotiations took a turn in light of recent layoffs. In November 2023, Condé Nast’s CEO, Roger Lynch laid off 5% of the company, leaving 300 employees including 94 union members unemployed.
“Ninety-four union members is almost 20% of our union,” Ben Dewey, a videographer across various Condé Nast titles, told the Washington Post. “The company is legally obligated to bargain over these layoffs.”
Dewey explained to The Hollywood Reporter that the walkout “is really about the company engaging in regressive bargaining and breaking the law in bargaining by rescinding an offer that they had previously made around layoffs.”
Taking place in the midst of award season, which reportedly is the busiest time for Condé Nast publications like Vanity Fair, the employee protesters staged an Oscar-themed picket which included a red carpet and a press photography-styled step-and-repeat.
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“We just really want to show how much Condé relies on union members to cover big events like the Oscar nominations,” Dewey added. “There’s so much solidarity that everybody is really looking out for their coworkers and willing to go on strike for this unfair way that the company is engaging in bargaining.”
Though this is Condé Nast Union’s first strike, the union was very intentional about its approach. Employees marched outside the offices holding signs that read “Condé gets Prada, workers get nada” and “Union busting is not in Vogue.”
The publication’s union is part of The NewsGuild of New York labor group, which filed two unfair labor practices complaints against Condé Nast to the National Labor Relations Board. In these filings, the union claims the company used intimidation and surveillance tactics against employees seeking information about the layoffs. When these claims were initially made in December, the brand said that its security team “followed standard building security protocol and did not engage with any union member,” per the Hollywood Reporter.
This month the union is accusing the brand of “regressive bargaining” as Condé Nast decreased its severance offer. At the time of layoffs, the union says Condé Nast offered the same severance package company staff receive to the unionized workers. However, when the union tried to negotiate these terms, the company cut the previously offered severance package in half.
This is not the first time union media workers have organized protests in response to company practices. Recently, newsrooms at the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News have held protests in light of management decisions and layoffs.
Correction, Jan. 25, 2024, 10:53 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to reflect that the 94 union employees were included in the total number of 300 laid off employees.
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