Shop Paper #7: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
October 21, 2022
Hello Shop F,
We had our 7th bargaining session with management on Friday, October 21st. This was a three hour meeting where Forbes was represented by SVP of Human Resources Ali Intres, Managing Editor Joyce Bautista Ferrari and outside counsel Patrick Collins. The union had over two dozen members present as well as the bargaining committee, our NewsGuild rep Anthony Napoli and lawyer Thomas Lamadrid. CEO Mike Federle and Chief Content Officer Randall Lane were invited to attend but did not show up.
Bargaining committee member Jon Ponciano opened the session by telling attendees that the union was planning to discuss our DEI proposal. This was first presented to management at our first session in March 2022—nearly seven months ago—and discussed in part at our second session in June. Jon also said that we planned to present testimonials. Forbes then interrupted and asked for assurances that the only people in attendance were current members of the bargaining unit. There had been a back and forth ahead of the meeting about whether the union could invite former staffers to provide testimonials about DEI at this meeting. We felt that this was reasonable and did inform Forbes ahead of time. However, Forbes objected to having journalists from other organizations present, despite our assurance that these people weren’t planning on writing about the session. Forbes stated they wouldn’t attend if former staffers were present.
To us, this was a lost opportunity for Forbes to learn more and ask questions. The company has emphasized its commitment to DEI so why wouldn’t Forbes want to hear about the experience of former staff related to this issue? Creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive newsroom is hard but not listening to people who have experiences to share doesn’t make it easier. In the end we decided to ask the former staffers to either record their statements or have it read by a unit member so the meeting could continue as planned. And once we assured Forbes that the only people in attendance were current staffers, we were able to continue.
Jon then introduced the first of four speakers. First up was Jared Council, senior editor for For(bes) the Culture. He spoke powerfully about being a black journalist and how diversity in the newsroom produces better journalism. Next was former Forbes wealth reporter Deniz Cam (now a producer for The Problem with Jon Stewart). Not allowed to attend by management, she sent a video that we shared. She spoke about her experience as an immigrant at Forbes on a sponsored visa and the way management treated that visa as a debt to be paid off. Matt Perez, a former Forbes reporter (now at Law360), had his testimonial read by Lisette Voytko because he wasn’t permitted to attend in person. His statement touched on various abusive and discriminatory practices and the toll they take on the newsroom and him personally. The last person to speak was Andrea Murphy, statistics editor and unit chair. She talked about how little Forbes has changed over her 22 years with the company and that this was a chance for the company to set high goals around DEI and live up to their public statements. All the testimonials are attached to this email. Please take the time to read/watch if you weren’t able to make it on the 21st.
After the testimonials, Jon asked if Forbes was going to send us a counter to our entire proposal or whether their non discrimiation and DEIB committee proposals were all that they were offering on the topic. This did prompt Forbes to agree to discuss the rest of our DEI proposal. Joyce and Ali had some questions about the scope of our proposal. However, we were disappointed by the tenor of the questions: rarely did they touch the “meaty” parts of the proposal. Instead, Forbes’ line of questioning was around basic, widely accepted legal language. This felt more like a “surface” conversation than a real bargaining one. Still, the bargaining committee answered questions from Forbes about sections 3 through 6, covering gender expression, immigration, equity and a budget for the proposed diversity committee. We anticipate a more thorough response from the company at the next bargaining session.
At the end of this discussion, and after we headed off Forbes’ lawyer attempt to rehash a discussion from our June 13th session about Forbes committing to goals, the company said that it would send a counter to our entire DEI proposal and stop asking us to negotiate DEI in pieces.
After a short break, Forbes sent us counter proposals on access to personnel files and grievance & arbitration. We’re close on both and hope to have our first tentative agreements at the next session. Management declined to provide a counter on the bulletin board proposal and said they were standing on their last proposal. That proposal limited what the union could post on a bulletin board in the Jersey City office. It’s disappointing that Forbes feels that limiting speech is an acceptable proposal.
An update from our last session where we had an intense debate with Forbes about our agreement regarding the Assistant Editor role, specifically raising the minimum salary of the unit members who have chosen the new General Reporter role. Our position is that the minimum should have been raised once we came to an agreement with Forbes in August and that some staffers were due retroactive pay. Forbes maintained that they would raise the salary once the needed AE Contributors had been hired. We have come to an agreement and the salary minimum will go into effect on November 1.
We have four sessions planned before the end of the year. Please make every effort to attend.
-November 9, 11AM-3PM EST
-November 16m 10AM-2PM EST
-December 8, 10AM-2PM EST
-December 14, 11AM-3PM EST
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
Alex Konrad
Andrea Murphy
Jon Ponciano
