Shop Paper #6: Reproductive rights proposal and delayed wage increases

October 4, 2022

Hey Shop F,

After a month-long break for the end of summer, we were back at the bargaining table with management on Tuesday, October 4, for a two-hour session (our sixth since we started bargaining in March). Forbes was represented by SVP of Human Resources Ali Intres, Managing Editor Joyce Bautista Ferrari and outside counsel Patrick Collins.

To kick things off, we asked why a few of our colleagues who will be stepping into new roles have yet to receive raises we negotiated and agreed to on August 12. That day, in an email, Forbes management said the transitions would be implemented “immediately”; however, more than six weeks later, three unit members have yet to receive the raises, and there’s still no clarity as to when they will fully step into their new roles.

We asked whether management has started actively interviewing for the roles; the answer was yes. We asked if there was a timeline for the hires; management didn’t offer one. The pro-rated salary adjustments would amount to less than $10,000. That’s a meaningful amount for the staffers who rightfully deserve their raises, but perhaps less meaningful to Forbes when it's spending thousands for an attorney who refuses to provide clarity on simple requests such as this one. We spent months fighting to raise the salaries to new minimums of $57,500 and $62,400 (management originally insisted they should remain flat at $50,000), and these raises should be made immediately—as management signaled more than six weeks ago. We will continue to press for more clarity on this issue and will update affected members as soon as we can.

Next up, we moved on to discuss a new proposal surrounding access to reproductive health services. Management brought forth this proposal in between sessions, seeking to modify our health insurance plans, retroactively to July 1, in order to cover travel expenses for healthcare services not available within 100 miles of an employee's home address (up to $4,000 per year and $100 per night on lodging for two people). Such services include abortion, gender-affirming care and in-patient mental health services.

We’re glad management brought this proposal forth but also felt it necessary to include contract language protecting employee privacy and enhancing the benefit. Among other things, we drafted a counter stipulating that employees using more than three consecutive sick days should not be forced to include a diagnosis or treatment type as documentation, ensuring related documents are kept strictly confidential and doubling the per-night lodging maximum to $200 (or $100 each for patient and companion).

Unfortunately, management dismissed the concerns and refused to agree to these provisions. Instead, Forbes came back to us with a counterproposal providing no extra protections. We agreed to it in order to ensure these benefits are available as soon as possible but are also incredibly disappointed that management rebuffed our requests to protect employee privacy. It’s important to note this is the same dismissive tone we’ve been met with when it comes to other crucial issues like pay equity and diversity and inclusion. As with those issues, we made it clear we will fight to protect these rights in a separate proposal.

Lastly, we spent our final 15 minutes discussing the union’s counter for grievance and arbitration. We continue to believe supervisors should respond to employee grievances in a timely manner, whereas management insists grievances can simply be ignored and rejected. That’s a sticking point. However, we are eager to work with management to come to an agreement, so we adjusted some time frames regarding the process of hearing and resolving grievances to hopefully meet in the middle. 

We’ll be back at it in another bargaining session on Friday, October 21 at 10 a.m. ET. Quick shout out to unit rep Anthony Napoli, lawyer Thomas Lamadrid and the 30 or so observers who attended our latest session. Your support is crucial in moving this along as expeditiously as possible. We’ll see you at the next one. 

Have any questions about the proposals? 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.

In solidarity, your bargaining committee:
Merrilee Barton
Katie Jennings
Alex Konrad
Andrea Murphy
Jon Ponciano