Fortune Digital Staffers Win Unionization With Forced Vote

Fortune’s newsroom is now entirely unionized. Despite efforts by the magazine’s management to derail the union, including an immediate rejection of voluntary recognition and direct efforts by chief executive officer Alan Murray, a wide majority of digital staffers at the former Time Inc. title have again decided to join the NewsGuild. A forced vote by management and overseen by the National Labor Union Relations Board showed 87 percent of staff in favor of unionization, leaving no avenue but to begin talks with staffers and NewsGuild around a union contract. “We look forward to joining the 41 percent of the staff already represented by the existing union agreement and working with management to agree on a contract that covers all editorial workers equally,” union members wrote in a statement. NewsGuild echoed the sentiment, saying: “Under the new ownership of Fortune Media Group, we look forward to getting to the bargaining table to ensure the future of this iconic publication.” Staffers went public with their organization efforts in late March, saying an “overwhelming majority” of Fortune’s 27-person online editorial staff had signed cards in support of unionization. Although 27 people may not sound like a large group, it actually makes up about 60 percent of Fortune’s

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWDWWD http://bit.ly/2JWsBVv