Workers Using Leverage
By 
After more than a year of contentious negotiations, publishing giant Condé Nast reached a last-minute contract agreement with the labor union representing hundreds of staffers at titles such as Vogue, GQ and Glamour, staving off a planned work stoppage ahead of the Met Gala.
Though the two sides struggled for months to reach agreements on issues such as wages, parental leave and severance, talks sped up last week after the union vowed to strike on Monday — a move that would have hamstrung the company’s coverage of one of the biggest fashion and celebrity events of the year.
“The Met Gala is fashion’s big night; it’s like the Super Bowl,” said Alma Avalle, a Condé Union bargaining committee member. “Once the work stoppage entered the conversation, all of a sudden the company was like, ‘Okay, well we can give you a little more.’”
For example, she said, the company’s negotiators had previously dug in their heels on parental leave, saying its policy was plenty generous already. But in the past week, they agreed to increase leave from 12 weeks to 14 weeks.
“Obviously, that’s still not enough,” Avalle said. “But it’s a really great win for our members.”
The union contract, which is expected to be ratified this week, will also implement a $61,500 starting salary floor, an end to a two-tier system that shut some workers out of health care plans and other benefits, just cause protection, expanded bereavement leave, and $3.3 million in total wage increases, the union said.
Crucially, the contract settles the question of what happens to the roughly 100 laid-off Condé Nast staffers who have spent six months in limbo as the union negotiated their severance packages as part of bargaining. The staffers on what became known as the “layoff list” will get eight weeks severance, three months of health insurance coverage or a one-time lump sum payment in lieu of coverage, and an additional $1,000 payment.
Nice win.