• by Melynda Fuller , September 4, 2019

The New Yorker’s subcontracted fact-checkers and other select editorial staff will become Condé Nast employees, the company announced this week. 

Currently, some of the 94-year-old publication’s fact-checkers and select editorial staff are subcontracted through a company called Global Employment Solutions (GES). 

According to a report by Bloomberg, the workers said they’ve been negotiating through their union. GES staff and other subcontracted workers do not receive paid holidays or vacation, find their health insurance is less generous than Condé Nast staffers', and are excluded from some company activities, the subcontractors told Bloomberg. 

The New Yorker and Condé Nast initiated this discussion before the staff unionized last year. 

“We continually review our contingent staff and assess if particular roles should transition to staff or are appropriate to continue as freelance,” Condé Nast spokesman Joseph Libonati stated to Bloomberg. “We have been doing that across brands, not just at the New Yorker.”

They also reported that the lack of worker protections encouraged them to work harder without complaints so that they might become full-fledged employees.

“Being paid in prestige isn’t something we should accept any longer,” said New Yorker staffer Natalie Meade, chair of the new union, according to Bloomberg. “Prestige doesn’t pay the bills -- money does.”

The New Yorker’s staff voted to unionize in June of last year, with full- and part-time staff members becoming part of the NewsGuild of New York. The magazine’s leadership voluntarily recognized the union in July of 2018.