NEW YORK — The day of the Academy Award nominations is typically a busy one for the staff of Vanity Fair. But instead of analyzing Oscar surprises and snubs on Tuesday, its writers left their desks alongside more than 400 employees at 11 other magazines owned by publishing giant Condé Nast — including Vogue, GQ and Glamour — and refused to work for a day.
In the latest of several recent one-day walkouts organized by frustrated media workers, more than 100 staffers picketed outside the company’s One World Trade Center offices, on a red carpet rolled out on the sidewalk to tweak Condé’s glossy image, holding signs that said “Condé Nasty” and “Union busting is not in Vogue.”
And the Oscar coverage that appeared on Vanity Fair’s website? It carried the anonymous byline of “Vanity Fair,” a sign that it was probably written in a pinch by non-unionized employees.
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“It’s a day that they really need us, and we want them to feel that,” Alma Avalle, a writer and producer for Bon Appétit, told The Washington Post, under a cold drizzle that didn’t seem to dampen staffers’ enthusiasm. “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” blasted from a loudspeaker, and picketers ate doughnuts and cheered when passing delivery trucks and taxis honked in support. Variety reported that movie star Anne Hathaway walked out of a New York photo shoot for Vanity Fair in solidarity with the work stoppage.
Journalists pressed by budget cuts have increasingly turned to 24-hour “walkouts” as a way to publicize labor disputes. Last week, unionized staffers at the Los Angeles Times walked off the job in anticipation of sweeping layoffs. Employees at The Post walked out for a day in December over contract negotiations, as did workers at the New York Times a year earlier.
End of carouselThe Condé Nast walkout was meant as a protest of management’s handling of ongoing labor negotiations. In November, CEO Roger Lynch announced that expected revenue was up for a third straight year, but that the company needed to lay off 5 percent of the company — roughly 300 people, including 94 employees in the union.
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“Ninety-four union members is almost 20 percent of our union,” said Ben Dewey, a videographer across various Condé Nast titles. “The company is legally obligated to bargain over these layoffs.”
The negotiations have been dragging out, and the union argues that management has violated labor laws by reducing its proposed severance offer for laid-off employees.
Company officials declined to comment.
Condé Nast was once renowned for its spare-no-expense approach to magazine publishing, with top editors receiving drivers, personal clothing budgets and even no-interest home loans. But like much of the rest of the media, the magazine giant has restructured in recent years, citing financial difficulties brought about by economic headwinds, shrinking ad budgets and falling subscriber counts.
In December, the New Yorker — a Condé Nast crown jewel typically spared from layoffs — was hit by staff cuts. Last week, the company laid off several employees of its music culture website Pitchfork and shuffled its operations under those of the men’s magazine GQ.
It’s not unheard of for journalists to launch protracted strikes, similar to those that rocked the auto and entertainment industries for several weeks last year, forcing some concessions from top manufacturers and studio bosses. Employees of Business Insider went on a 13-day strike last year, and some staffers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been on strike since October 2022.
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But a 24-hour walkout offers some advantages in a labor dispute. It can grab headlines for a day, without forcing workers to forfeit weeks of pay. It’s also easier for union members to organize, not requiring a formal vote to strike.
“The difference is it doesn’t require that all workers be present, it’s more spontaneous, and it can go without a vote,” said Melissa Atkins, a Philadelphia labor attorney.
Strategies have varied across media organizations. At the legal news service Law360, employees used their walkout to protest what it called management’s efforts to stall contract negotiations. At the Scholastic publishing house, unionized staffers walked out in November after the publisher rejected a proposal for higher wages.
Some see the media walkouts as part of a growing enthusiasm for labor organization that fueled last year’s strikes in Detroit and Hollywood.
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“We are seeing an uptick in the willingness of workers, especially media workers, to engage in this kind of direct action,” said the president of the NewsGuild of New York, Susan DeCarava, who visited the Condé picket line.
“Because, frankly, we’re all tired of this endless cycle of layoffs, and then pivots, and then more layoffs. And the executives making these decisions — who don’t do the work, don’t produce the product, don’t report the news — their pay never gets cut, and their jobs are never in question.”
On Tuesday morning, a man in a hard hat lingered by the Condé picket line chatting with organizers. Dave, 32, who spoke on the condition that only his first name be used, said he was a steamfitter with Local 638, on his lunch break from a construction site down the street.
“I just came to support and show solidarity,” he said. “Workers are fighting back.”
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