The History of Organizing at Condé Nast

The unionization of Condé Nast began in earnest in 2018, when editorial employees at The New Yorker began an organizing drive. They announced their union publicly in June of 2018 with nearly 90% of the staff supporting the effort. They were joined in March 2019 by colleagues at Ars Technica and Pitchfork, and in April 2020 by those at WIRED. All four publications were voluntarily recognized by Condé. Now the entire company is unionizing.

Solidarity Statement from Represented Shops

When workers at The New Yorker, Pitchfork, Ars Technica, and WIRED formed our respective unions, we knew what we needed to accomplish: job security; liveable wages and guaranteed annual pay increases; hours that allow for work-life balance; a workplace in which diversity is prioritized, and where all employees feel safe and included. The unions of The New Yorker, Pitchfork, and Ars Technica won all of this and more when we unanimously ratified our first contracts in July 2021. And the WIRED Union, which is currently in negotiations, has swiftly laid the foundation for a strong contract that will also achieve these common goals. Our unions’ solidarity and collective purpose has invigorated our members, transformed our workplaces, and greatly improved our working conditions.

But these contracts are only the beginning—there are hundreds of workers at Condé Nast who need and deserve the same protections and workplace improvements that we have secured. That’s why we—your unionized colleagues at The New Yorker, Pitchfork, Ars Technica, and WIRED—are thrilled to welcome you to The NewsGuild of New York.

We work for one of the largest and most influential media companies in the country, but Condé Nast also has a long, well-documented history of exploitation, leveraging its prestige to overwork and underpay its employees. With the brave and historic step of forming a union, you are remaking Condé Nast into a company that is worthy of the talented workers who produce its award-winning publications. The Condé Nast Union shows that, across different brands and groups, we as workers all share a commitment to quality journalism and to equity, transparency, and dignity in our workplace. These values transcend whatever might divide us, whether an opaque and isolating corporate structure or a precarious industry that tries to pit workers against one another. Unionized workers at Condé Nast have proven that we are our own best protection against economic uncertainty, bosses’ biases, and executives’ whims. By joining forces, we gain the power to raise standards throughout this company and the media industry. 

Congratulations on the incredible organizing that has brought you all to this point. We’re excited for what’s to come and we’re ready to stand with you. Now is your time: stay focused, stay energized, and stay united. Together, we will create the future we deserve at Condé Nast.

  • The New Yorker Union

    The New Yorker has paved the way for strong labor unions at Condé. In June 2021, after two and a half years of bargaining and a virtually unanimous strike vote, the union finally won its historic contract. Key wins secured include wage increases (of more than 10% for over half of members and up to 63% for some), a salary floor of $55,000 (increasing to $60,000 by 2024), guaranteed annual raises, tangible work-life balance protections, a ban on NDAs for employees who believe they have been discriminated or harassed, just cause, and more.

  • The Wired Union

    WIRED employees banded together to take their union public, with over 85% of eligible staff in support, in the economically precarious early days of the pandemic — just weeks before Condé laid off 100 employees. They are currently fighting Condé’s egregious attempts to arbitrarily exclude staffers who work in audience development and commerce reviews (approximately a third of their unit) from the union.

  • The Pitchfork Union

    Pitchfork staffers joined the labor movement at Condé with broad support to address the same issues as their colleagues at the New Yorker, including job security, protection of their unique editorial voice, structural changes to ensure diversity and inclusion, and layoff procedures. They have since celebrated winning the same contract that covers the The New Yorker and Ars Technica unions.

  • The Ars Technica Union

    Ars Technica announced their union in tandem with Pitchfork. With staffers across the country and no central physical office, Ars was the first 100% remote digital media company to unionize in the U.S. Among their key issues were wages, transparency, elimination of the two-tiered employment system that deprives full-time staffers designated as subcontractors of benefits — all of which were addressed in the first contract.

  • The NewsGuild of New York

    The NewsGuild of New York is the country’s largest union for news professionals, advocating to improve the economic interests and working conditions of journalists across the country. The publications they represent include The New York Times, BuzzFeed, The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy, Insider, Mashable, NBC News, The Nation, The New Republic, New York Magazine, and more.

    Want to organize your newsroom? Reach out today.