Employees at Condé Nast, one of the country’s largest news and entertainment publishers, announced on Tuesday they have unionized and are asking the company to voluntarily recognize their organization and comply with their workplace demands.
The union would represent more than 500 editorial, video and production workers across all Condé Nast’s brands that haven’t already unionized, including publications it owns like Vogue, Bon Appétit, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest and GQ.
In a statement issued through the NewsGuild of New York, union representatives accused the company of providing low pay, showing a lack of diversity and equity, relying heavily on contract workers and allowing an absence of clear standards for performance evaluation and career development.
“The current workplace culture at Condé Nast allows many people of color and women to be consistently silenced by management. It’s no longer enough to play-act a commitment to diversity, or apply bandaid solutions to issues of discrimination,” said Kaylee Hammonds, staffer at Epicurious. ”We’re unionizing today across the company so that this hypocrisy that currently thrives at Condé Nast can be remedied.”
Tuesday’s announcement is the latest in a string of unionization efforts by employees at Condé Nast properties, beginning in 2018.
“There is no viable ‘future’ of Condé Nast if women and people of color continue to be used to fill a diversity quota,” said Cortni Spearman, a top social media staffer at Glamour. “The only viable future at the company, and for this industry, is one where all workers have a strong stake in decisions that directly affect them. I’m proud to take this step towards that future today along with hundreds of my colleagues.”
In a statement to The Hill on Tuesday afternoon, Conde Nast said it was aware “some members of our Condé Nast teams are intending to form a union.”
“We plan to have productive and thoughtful conversations with them over the coming weeks to learn more,” a company spokesperson said.
Updated: 4:05 p.m.