One of America’s most revered magazines may soon be on strike.
The New Yorker Union has voted to authorize a walkout, with 100 out of 101 members agreeing.
“We’ve been working without a contract for six months and a day,” says Douglas Watson, a copy editor for The New Yorker and a member of the union’s mobilizing team. “We’re fed up, and we won’t settle for a subpar contract.”
This comes at an awkward time for owner Condé Nast. The 25th annual New Yorker Festival starts on Oct. 25 and runs to the 27th. Are strikers going to march outside the festival?
But the company has been here before. In May, Condé Nast avoided a threatened disruption of Vogue’s Met Gala when it reached a last-minute contract agreement with the NewsGuild of New York.
The union claimed it won $3.6 million in total wage increases, a layoff moratorium through July 31, 2024, a two-week increase to paid parental leave to 14 weeks and several other concessions.
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Obviously, the New Yorker Union hopes this protest will turn out the same way. But there is a great deal of ground to cover.
In addition to pay, the employees are concerned about a move to enforce tough new restrictions on the ability of members to do any work outside the company,, the union says. They are also worried about job security after two rounds of layoffs in the past year, it adds.
But the threat to the Festival is clear.
“Unless Condé Nast management agrees to enshrine in a contract the value of our members’ work, we will see them at the New Yorker Festival later this month,” says Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “We don’t need to purchase tickets. We’re inviting ourselves.”
This reporter has been an admirer of The New Yorker going back to the days of Liebling, Mitchell, Cheever, Stafford and O’Hara. And today’s more topical magazine has reached new heights under the leadership of David Remnick.
Let’s hope they agree on a contract soon.