NYGuild Members at Conde Nast’s WIRED Announce Strike During Two-Day Amazon Prime Day Event Demanding a Contract Agreement

06/30/2022

For immediate release: June 30, 2022

NYGuild Members at Conde Nast’s WIRED Announce Strike During Two-Day Amazon Prime Day Event Demanding a Contract Agreement 

Over 60 employees at the technology magazine announce impending strike on Prime Day, two high revenue days for the company. 

The union is asking the public to honor the digital picket line, rallying behind the slogan “No Contract, No Clicks.”

 

NEW YORK — The staff of Wired, the science and technology magazine owned by Condé Nast and represented by The NewsGuild of New York, announced today that over 97% of the workers are prepared to strike on the two days of Prime Day, July 12th and 13th, if the company refuses to bargain in good faith and reach an agreement with the union before then. 

The Wired Union is calling on the public to honor the digital picket line by not visiting the site, reading WIRED stories, or clicking on any WIRED links on those online shopping days, which tend to bring in a high amount of clicks and revenue for the company. 

WIRED workers are fighting for a contract that includes equitable pay across the board for all employees and a strong rights participation clause, which the company has not even been open to discussing. 

“The fact that management has been so unwilling to move on salary minimums that will attract both new and diverse talent shows where their real priorities are. Management has a short-sighted view of WIRED’s success if they don’t realize a strong contract where workers feel adequately compensated and protected will make the workplace and publication better,” says Alan Henry, Senior Editor of Service, WIRED.

The union is also fighting for several product reviewers to be recognized as part of the unit, stating the vital work they do to keep the site running, and especially on Prime Days. “All of us, including our peers on the reviews team who write the journalism that keeps the site running and who management refuses to recognize as in the union, are WIRED,” says Henry. 

“Condé Nast is a storied media company with a commitment to powerful journalism. But while it projects an image of financial strength and modern values to the broader media, it continues to pay some of its hardest workers pitifully low salaries and has refused to adapt to changes in publishing that would grant its storytellers some intellectual property rights,” says Lauren Goode, Senior Writer, WIRED. “These moves are short-sighted, and we hope that this call to action helps call attention to that fact.”

If an agreement on a contract is not reached by the start of Prime Day, the WIRED Union is calling on readers and subscribers to not click on the site on July 12th and 13th, and will be engaged in a work stoppage, pausing all writing, editing, and updates to the site during that period. “We are ready to meet with management and bargain at any time between now and then to reach a deal and avert the strike. The ball is in their court,” says Lily Newman, Senior Writer, WIRED. 

Workers took the WIRED Union public with 85% support in April of 2020, joining employees of The New Yorker, Ars Technica and Pitchfork in the ranks of unionized Condé Nast publications. This past March, around 500 more workers at Condé Nast, including brands Vogue, GQ, Allure, and Bon Appétit have also unionized with the NewsGuild of New York as Condé Nast Union.   

"For over two decades, WIRED journalists have published award-winning work on technology, science, culture, and presented new ways to think about our future," says Susan DeCarava, President, The NewsGuild of New York. "And now these workers are showing management at WIRED and at Conde Nast that if company reps don't meet their demands and bargain in good faith, then there are going to be a lot more strikes in their future." 

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