Hundreds of workers at Conde Nast, the publisher of iconic magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ, staged a 24-hour strike on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, to oppose the company’s plan to lay off 94 of their colleagues, or one-fifth of its unionized workforce.
The strike was timed to coincide with the day of the Academy Awards nominations, a major event for the entertainment industry and the media outlets that cover it. The workers, who are members of the News Guild of New York, asked the public not to visit Conde Nast websites during the strike, and held a rally outside the company’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan, featuring a red carpet and a mock Oscars ceremony.
The workers, who include writers, editors, designers, fact-checkers, and social media managers, wore black and carried signs that read “Conde Nast: The Devil Wears Nothing”, “Save Our Jobs”, and “No Cuts, No Concessions”. They also handed out flyers that listed the names of the publications that Conde Nast owns and urged people to support independent journalism.
The union accused Conde Nast of unlawful handling of layoff negotiations and bad-faith bargaining, and filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. The union also proposed a counteroffer that included fewer layoffs, more severance, and a moratorium on cuts, but the company rejected it and offered less severance instead.
The union said that the layoffs are part of a larger wave of job insecurity in the US media industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic and the digital transformation. Last week, Conde Nast announced that it would merge Pitchfork, a leading music publication, with GQ, a men’s magazine, resulting in significant layoffs at Pitchfork and angering the music community.
Conde Nast, which is owned by the Newhouse family, is one of the most influential and profitable media companies in the world, with a global audience of more than 400 million and annual revenues of more than $1 billion. The company has been expanding its digital and video operations, and recently launched a new streaming service, Conde Nast Entertainment.
However, the company has also faced criticism for its lack of diversity, its treatment of freelancers, and its alleged mishandling of sexual harassment and discrimination complaints. In 2020, the company’s former CEO, Roger Lynch, resigned amid a wave of scandals and controversies.
The current CEO, Anna Wintour, who is also the editor-in-chief of Vogue and the artistic director of Conde Nast, has not commented publicly on the strike. A spokesperson for the company said that the strike was “unfortunate and disappointing”, and that the company was “committed to reaching a fair and equitable agreement with the union as soon as possible”.
The strike is expected to end at midnight on Tuesday, but the union said that it was prepared to take further action if the company did not meet its demands.
“We are not going to back down. We are not going to accept these cuts. We are not going to let Conde Nast destroy our livelihoods and our careers,” said Susan Jones, a senior editor at Vanity Fair and a union leader. “We are here to tell Conde Nast that we are not disposable. We are essential. We are the ones who make these magazines and websites what they are. We are the ones who deserve respect and dignity.”
By Salam Bustanji
