The Forbes Union, which represents the magazine’s editorial staff, resigned Tuesday on a crucial day for the company.
The union alerted management and scheduled its strike on the same day as the publication of Forbes’ well-known “30 Under 30” list, which includes twenty lists of thirty influential people under the age of thirty who are recognized for their achievements in various fields industries.
Members of the union, who fight for fair wages and reductions in employment and dismissal protections, said this Fox News digital Management has been at the negotiating table for almost three years.
“CEO Mike Federle recently said at a town hall that management would like to win a contract, but it seems a long way off. That’s because of his actions and those of management,” said Andrea Murphy, unit president and statistics editor at Forbes . , said. “We were and remain ready to complete this contract, including an award that recognizes the value we bring to Forbes.”
For example, management is proposing a 1% annual pay increase, a $60,000 pay floor, a 5% minimum wage increase for promotions, and no overtime or extra pay for weekends. The union, on the other hand, wants an 8% annual wage increase, a $75,000 wage floor, union protections for everyone who qualifies, a 15% minimum wage increase for promotions and additional pay for weekends and overtime.
“Right now, Forbes is proposing a minimum salary of $60,000 for employees, people starting at Forbes,” Murphy said. “That’s just not a fair salary for the amount of work people do.”
The Forbes Union is also demanding that the company stop “illegally and unilaterally” pulling people from the bargaining unit.
A spokesperson for Forbes Union told Fox News Digital that management has falsely claimed that some members of the Forbes Union are “management” and as a result should not be part of the union. The union said the tactic is a common anti-union practice, which it combats through its unfair labor practices over management’s misclassification of members in an effort to shrink the Forbes Union.
Murphy said she’s not sure why management has hesitated for so long, but she suspects it’s a tactic used by companies to reduce enthusiasm for a union by “slow-moving” the contract fight.
“Of course they don’t tell us that when we sit at the negotiating table,” she added. “They claim they have done this in good faith all along.”
Forbes Union three-day strike in January 2024 (Forbes Union)
It is striking that Forbes has been on the verge of a sell-off for years. Most recently, the private equity arm of Koch Inc. in talks to buy Forbes in partnership with another individual investor, Sources told Axios in September. Previously, the company was considering a blank-check merger in 2021.
Hank Tucker, a writer at Forbes and vice president of the union, told Fox News Digital that he suspects the likelihood of a sale could influence management’s decision to slowly walk away from a potential contract.
“We’re also going to be looking not just for wages, but for good dismissal protections, good dismissal protections, because I think everyone sees examples of when a new owner buys a company and some layoffs quite quickly after taking over,” he said . “We want protection to counter that, and it seems like Forbes is trying to hold us back until a new owner comes in and can decide for themselves where to prioritize the contract.”
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But, Murphy emphasizes, other media unions do not have to wait that long for a first contract.
“It’s just disappointing when you have people in management, like our editor-in-chief Randall Lane, who say things like, ‘I want us to have the best contract in all of media,’ and then the company shows up and proposes a 1 % for.” and a $60,000 salary floor,” she said. “That’s not the best contract in the media.”
Murphy highlighted the timing of the strike, which coincides with the launch of the company’s “30 Under 30” list, to highlight the work needed to get the lists out.
Forbes Union three-day strike in January 2024 (Forbes Union)
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“The Under 30 list is a very high-profile list for Forbes. It gets us a lot of attention,” she said. “But it does take the work of virtually every team in the newsroom, and months and months of work to put together a list like this.”
“The scope is intense,” she added. “There isn’t actually one part of the newsroom that isn’t involved in this, and that’s why we felt like attending the day and highlighting how much work it takes to deliver this level of journalism day in and day out. We want to principle, using some of the attention and spotlight this list gets every year, and a little bit of it on our contract battle.”
The Forbes Union falls under the umbrella of the NewsGuild of New York, which represents nearly 6,000 media professionals and other employees at news organizations in the New York region, including The New York Times, The New Yorker and Thomson Reuters, among others.
“Forbes’ success with ’30 Under 30′ is a direct result of the hard work of our members,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of NY. “It is long past time for management to recognize that fact with a fair contract.”
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Fox News Digital contacted Forbes for comment.
