Shop Paper #23: Walkouts Work

March 11, 2024

Hello! 

The union had its 23rd bargaining session with management on March 11. We came in strong by introducing a powerful new member of our team. Emily Baker-White has joined the bargaining committee and this was the first session she attended. A great addition to the BC!

Starting with the good news. For the first time in a very long time, management gave us two real counters that we can actually work with. Not only that, Forbes actually asked us real questions that demonstrated a depth of knowledge of our proposals, instead of their usual practice of coming in fully unprepared to do anything but demean staff. You could feel the – shall we say it? – whiff of progress in the room. 

Remote Work: Forbes gave us a counter proposal. This alone  demonstrates that our walkout in January worked. Remote work has been and continues to be a key issue for our union and was a big part of why close to 80% of the newsroom participated in the walkout. Roughly half of our members live outside the tri-state area of NY/NJ/CT. Any changes to our current remote work policy would be beyond disruptive to the entire newsroom. Members will remember that the company completely rejected our remote work proposal in November 2023 and that there was a useless and awful conversation about the issue at the session on January 16. 

The company’s counter proposal enshrines the current status quo, that employees are able to work remotely. There are a few exceptions that exist for members who have on-camera roles, etc. It also keeps the 120-day notice period from our original proposal if  management determines there is a need to change a member’s status from remote employee  to an in-person employee. The company prefers that those days be calendar days, however, rather than business days, which shortens the notification period somewhat. There are currently a handful of unit members who are required to be in the office to perform their work. 

These are real protections for remote workers. And most importantly, this a remarkable about face from Forbes – almost certainly a result of our walkout. 

Artificial Intelligence: We put our AI proposal on the table and, shockingly, had a  productive conversation with management. We strongly believe that AI cannot replace the work of bargaining unit members – our work is simply too valuable. But we also recognize some of the value of AI, and don’t want to stop members from using it as a tool. Both sides generally agreed about where the line is with AI when it comes to articles and lists but there were questions about how AI tools are being used on the Art and Video teams. At times, Forbes’ questions were disturbing –the company did seem to imply that they were open to replacing some of our art team’s great work with fully-generated AI art. 

Has anyone seen AI-generated art lately? We won’t stand for trash.   

Still, we’re looking forward to seeing what Forbes comes back with. The bargaining committee is currently having conversations with members on the art and video teams to better understand how AI impacts their work. 

Access to Content: A smaller proposal that would give employees that leave Forbes or are laid off access to Forbes.com for one year.Our proposal  would allow former members to have access to their work for free. The Forbes counter offered a free one-year subscription, but did  remove  the provision that former employees would be notified for up to one year after leaving Forbes if any of their work was removed from the website. Chief Human Resources Officer Ali Intres said that this would be onerous for Forbes. While we don’t think a singular email notification is exactly “onerous,” we countered that the company could inform the union instead. Looks like we are very close to an agreement here.

While this is a smaller proposal, it’s a significant improvement from where we were before – again, a sign that our walkout made a difference.

Now onto the proposals where the company held onto their old and terrible positions. 

Forbes did have a partial response to our Hours & Overtime proposal. They gave us a counter for the scheduling of the breaking news team. There are some issues that need to be addressed such as the minimum number of hours between shifts (right now, you could be asked to end your day at midnight and start again at 8 am. Absurd). But the problem here is that the company didn’t respond to any of the other parts of our proposal. There was nothing about defining the work week for the newsroom or the magazine close. 

Ali and managing editor Joyce Bautista Ferrari wouldn’t even commit to the language currently in the handbook (“The normal workweek for Forbes regular, salaried employees is 40 hours-8 hours a day, including an hour for lunch. Work schedules vary, depending on the requirements of each department.) Their emphasis was on the idea that schedules vary, which the bargaining committee members understand. But there’s a big difference between working a few long days to get a story or list out and regularly working more than 40 hours a week. That not a case of schedules will vary but of expecting exempt employees to work extra hours without pay or comp time. 

Work continues on the DEIB committee proposal. And unfortunately this last session didn’t get us any closer. It seems clear from our discussion with management that Forbes isn’t interested in creating a committee that will be held accountable for making progress around DEIB. The sticking point is that the company wants committee members to be barred from sharing any information or data that management gives to the committee, essentially gagging members from sharing anything with the wider unit. This would include high level updates on progress or the status of possible recommendations/initiatives. The union understands that some data will need to be kept confidential–personnel files, salary information, etc. However, what the union wanted is for this committee to be both transparent and accountable. Neither is possible if members can’t discuss any of the committee’s work. 

Management is concerned that data would be published in some way that lacks context (their context) and has said, before the committee has been formed, that the committee won’t issue any reports.It’s clear from the discussion that Forbes has a specific idea of what this committee can and can’t do and that it’s not interested in a committee that can do real work. 

The walkout demonstrated how seriously this unit takes the fight for our first contract. The tone at the table and the counter on remote work showed us that management was paying attention, even if they pretended it didn’t happen when we all returned to work. 

When we fight together, we win together

Have any questions about the proposals or anything related to bargaining? Reach out to anyone on the bargaining committee. 

Want to get involved? We’re always looking for new stewards or BC members. Contact Unit Chair Andrea Murphy: andreadmurphy@gmail.com to learn more.

–Your Bargaining Committee

Emily Baker-White

Zach Everson

Alex Konrad

Andrea Murphy

Hank Tucker