Shop Papers #9, #10 and #11
Hey Shop F!
Greetings from your bargaining committee. We fell behind in sending out shop papers at the end of the year. So here are #9, #10 and #11 for you all. These sessions covered a number of proposals including the FTO policy, DEI, and Just Cause.
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.
Our next session is tomorrow, January 24th, from 2-5PM EST.
Shop Paper #9
November 16, 2022
We had our 8th bargaining session with Forbes on November 16. This was a four-hour session with Forbes being represented by SVP of Human Resources Ali Intres, Managing Editor Joyce Bautista Ferrari and outside counsel Patrick Collins.
About 30 minutes before the session started all employees received an email from management announcing changes to the company’s time off policy for 2023. The FTO (flexible time off ) policy would go into effect for bargaining unit employees on January 1, but requires the approval of the union for unit members.
Brooke Dunmore, VP of benefits, presented the new policy. The new plan would replace the various types of time off (vacation, sick days, days of impact, summer fridays) which have a set number of days with a plan that encourages employees to take a minimum of 20 days off. This new FTO policy doesn’t include short or long term disability, parental leave, and caregiver leave. Forbes’ position is that employees know best the flow of their work. This policy encourages them to “own their responsibilities” and request time off when it’s best for their role. However, all requests need to be approved by a manager.
Bargaining committee members flagged a number of issues with the FTO policy. It puts a lot of emphasis on employees booking time off when it works best for their job and their team. This is something that everyone in the unit already does. We all think about projects, lists, magazine closes when requesting days off. All of this when many teams are understaffed. However, things come up, plans get made, people get sick. This policy makes dealing with time off less certain.
Folks at Forbes already have a difficult time taking time off. Management tried to frame this as a communication issue, that folks need to talk to their manager and escalate to HR if necessary. We brought up issues of managers telling employees to ask for days off in Slack before putting the request in ADP, sitting on requests or simply having such an intense workload that it felt impossible to take a day off. Additionally, there are managers who have the mentality that since they can’t take time off, the folks who work for me shouldn’t be able to either. We wanted to know what Forbes plans to do to train managers and ensure that there is a way to handle disputes about requests.
We suggested that if Forbes was truly concerned about employees getting a chance to recharge, the policy could be changed to require people to take time off instead of just encouraging it. This is found in some contracts and is standard policy in some industries.
Joyce and Ali did say that they can get reports of pending requests, etc. and would be looking at the data. They also agreed that managers shouldn’t be asking people to make requests outside of ADP. We wrapped up the discussion by saying the union would be sending over a request for information related to the FTO data brought up in the meeting and then took a break.
After returning from the break, there was a brief but intense discussion about the bargaining process. When both sides come to an agreement on an issue, we have what is called a tentative agreement (TA). NewsGuild practice is to have both sides sign the TA and then there’s a record of what has been agreed to on that issue. This helps both sides put together the final version of the contract since there’s a record of exactly what has been agreed to. Forbes’ lawyer felt that this was an outrageous request and stormed out of the meeting (as best he could since we were on Zoom). The issue here isn’t that Forbes’ lawyer got upset -- that happens. The issue is that Forbes hired a lawyer who hasn’t negotiated a contract with the NewGuild or on behalf of a media company. He’s not familiar with how the Guild bargains, how we do our jobs, journalistic ethics, and what has been negotiated in other Guild contracts.
Patrick eventually returned and we briefly discussed our proposal on Just Cause before ending at 2PM.
Shop Paper #10
December 8, 2022
On December 8, we convened with management remotely for our 10th bargaining session. To kick things off, we were joined by special guest Dolores Huerta, an iconic labor organizer and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient who coined the "Sí, se puede" motto of the United Farm Workers of America. Dolores was in New York City for a Forbes 50 Over 50 luncheon and graciously agreed to attend a session with management to discuss the importance of reaching a collective bargaining agreement as expeditiously as possible.
Dolores discussed her experience leading union campaigns for American farmworkers and stressed the value of diversity across all organizations. As we've been telling management, Dolores also emphasized the importance of securing a strong diversity committee, with resources and measurable goals: "Remember, [the committee] has got to be resourced; it's got to be strong, and it's got to have goals that can be measured, so people can be held accountable if the outcome is not what it should be."
We’ve been discussing the implementation of measurable DEI goals with management, as represented by Chief of Human Resources Ali Intres and Managing Editor Joyce Bautista Ferrari, for months but unfortunately have yet to see them accept—or even show willingness to accept—such goals. We are incredibly thankful for Dolores’ testimony! However, we are disappointed management attempted to cancel the session the day prior after we told them Dolores would attend, and became abrasive when unit members asked to take a screenshot photo with Dolores in a show of solidarity on the Zoom call. We ultimately had to sign off and ask Dolores to hop onto another Zoom to take the photo, but the moment was powerful nonetheless, and to lighten the mood, Dolores jokingly referred to management’s sudden abrasiveness as “Forbes acting like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
In our negotiations, Forbes has repeatedly acknowledged there is ample opportunity to improve DEI within the newsroom, but frustratingly, management once again spent the bulk of this session lamenting how “difficult” these goals would be and in some instances, called them “impossible.” They are not impossible. Peers like Time and Sports Illustrated have already committed to working toward ensuring at least 50% of the applicant pool making it beyond the initial interview stage be individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. Forbes has thus far refused to do so.
We are now waiting on management to counter our DEI proposal, and we are ready to escalate this as necessary if management continues to neglect its duty to DEI. After a caucus we spent the rest of our session negotiating our grievance and arbitration proposal. After several rounds of counters, we are close to reaching an agreement that allows disputes to be presented within 30 days of a violation occurring and requires supervisors to respond within 30 days, with any grievances then moving to the head of HR and/or arbitration if necessary.
Shop Paper #11
December 14, 2022
In our December 14 session, we discussed several proposals, including Non-Discrimination, Just Cause, No Strike/Lockout, and Access to Content. We also discussed Forbes’ push to put the unit on a flexible time off policy, and why we rejected this proposal with the best interests of the unit at heart. Thanks to all the unit members who stopped by part of the long session to show their support!
As with some sessions in the past, we got off to a slow start as Forbes’ counsel Patrick Collins objected to the methods of how the Bargaining Committee was hoping to move the Non-Discrimination proposal toward a tentative agreement. Forbes had brought forward a counter-proposal on November 9 that ignored much of what the unit previously put forward. A good hour was spent going back and forth about why Forbes management, through Collins, seems to believe that they dictate the terms of such agreements, for the Bargaining Committee to simply red-line and accept.
The Committee and our tireless representatives Anthony Napoli, Heather Trobe and Thomas Lamadrid put it back to Collins that much time and energy could be saved if Forbes would amend, instead of attempting to disregard and replace, unit proposals. Another point of contention was access to gender neutral bathrooms. The unit felt strongly that Forbes should do its best to provide such bathrooms in any offices it might operate with unit members in the U.S. Management conspicuously wished to limit this entirely to the current Jersey City office. Eventually, Collins et al returned with a red-line of the unit proposal that restated its positions, without compromise, for the Committee to continue to evaluate and respond to in the future.
Forbes then raised its Flexible Time Off proposal again, informing the Committee that this was its final chance to reach an agreement for the 2023 calendar year. Collins told the Committee that such a policy would supersede all unit proposals about vacation, comp time and others, including a clause in the unit’s Non-Discrimination proposal ensuring unit members could take time off for necessary appearances to maintain their and their families’ immigration status. Collins told the Committee that it could choose to bargain over including part-time staff in such a policy, as they would not be covered under management’s proposal.
Collins claimed that if the Committee didn’t agree to such an overarching FTO proposal immediately, Forbes would not return to the table to bargain over it midyear. It should be noted that paid time off is a mandatory subject of bargaining and Forbes is obliged to bargain over terms. The Committee rejected this proposal, noting that it did not protect our unit from being asked to work overtime or weekend hours, that such policies have been found by studies to lead workers to take less vacation, and that such a proposal would preempt other rights that the unit has long believed are important to a healthy and productive work environment.
In the afternoon, the Committee and management were able to find more common ground. The Committee reviewed Collins’ counter proposal on Just Cause (which notably removed the promise that Forbes follow principles of progressive discipline) and that the company provide advance warning before taking disciplinary action including termination. The two sides discussed exceptions or limits to advance warning, including for egregious conduct. Management held to a no-notice position, and no agreement was reached yet.
On Access To Content, management provided a counter-proposal suggesting a shorter period of notice for former employees to receive notification if their content would be deleted from the Forbes site, and a shorter period of access to a subscription to reach that content. Management also countered to remove its obligation to store and provide that information on request. The Committee believes that advance notice of any deletion or removal from public view is important to the Unit and protecting its work, and will continue to work to reach a resolution.
That same afternoon, the present Committee members in-office, Alex Konrad and Jon Ponciano, appeared at Randall Lane’s scheduled Q+A with the Wealth team to ask him about the unit’s DEI proposal. Despite current and former staff sharing powerful testimonials and the high priority that this remains across our Unit, management has been slow to respond and unwilling to accept or compromise with the Unit’s demands for a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. Thanks to John Hyatt and Giacomo Tognini for also asking important questions during this session.
Asked about the delay, and invited to attend the Bargaining session or otherwise assist in an agreement, Lane responded at length that he supports bargaining coming to a speedy agreement; that he hopes the parties can reach a DEI proposal that goes far beyond what any other newsroom promises; that a more diverse newsroom has long been his high priority, and that he would urge the newsroom not to set back others by hiring diverse people away from them versus bringing more people into the industry; and that, all that said, he would not be joining the session. Management had delegated Ali Intres and Joyce Bautista Ferrari to represent newsroom leaders in Bargaining, he claimed, and he did not wish to undermine them. But Lane dashed out the door to an awards ceremony on a hopeful note that perhaps he could assist in some other way, to be determined, in reaching a swift agreement.
The Bargaining Committee is diligently working on more counters and proposals to bring to management, despite its slow and sometimes frustrating pace of response, and looks forward to our next bargaining session on January 24th from 2-5PM ET.
