FIRST ON FOX– Forbes Union, which represents the magazine’s editorial team, resigned from its job Tuesday on a crucial day for the company.

The union issued a warning to management and planned its strike on the same day as the publication of Forbes’ well-known “30 under 30” list, which contains 20 lists of 30 influential people under the age of 30 who are recognized for their achievements in various Industries.

Union members fighting for fair wages and labor cuts and severance protections told Fox News Digital that management has been dithering at the bargaining table for nearly three years.

“CEO Mike Federle said at a recent town hall meeting that management is committed to getting a contract, but that it still appears to be a long way off. “That’s because of his actions and those of management,” Andrea Murphy, department head and statistics editor at Forbes, said. “We have been and will continue to be prepared to enter into this agreement, including payment that recognizes the value we bring to Forbes.”

For example, management is proposing a 1% annual raise, a $60,000 wage floor, a 5% minimum raise for promotions, and no overtime or additional pay for weekends. In contrast, the union wants 8% annual raises, a $75,000 wage floor, union protections for all eligible workers, a minimum 15% raise for promotions and additional wages for weekends and overtime.

“Right now Forbes is proposing a minimum salary of $60,000 for associates, people starting at Forbes,” Murphy said. “That’s just not a fair salary for the amount of work people do.”

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The Forbes Union also demands that the company stop “illegally and unilaterally” removing people from the bargaining unit.

A Forbes Union spokesperson told Fox News Digital that management falsely claimed that some of Forbes Union’s members were “management” and therefore should not be part of the union. The union said the tactic was a common anti-union practice that it is fighting with allegations of unfair labor practices because management misclassified members to shrink Forbes Union.

A Forbes spokesperson told Fox News Digital that they are working diligently with the NewsGuild of NY to reach a collective bargaining agreement and have reached tentative agreements on eight proposals.

“While we respect their right to strike, we are disappointed with the NewsGuild’s decision, particularly as we schedule a bargaining session tomorrow and are prepared to meet later this month,” the spokesman said. “In the meantime, Forbes continues to serve its audiences and publish its content across platforms.”

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Murphy claims management has moved too slowly and suspects this is a tactic used by companies to dampen enthusiasm for a union by “slowly moving” the contract fight.

“Of course they don’t tell us that when we’re at the negotiating table,” she added. “They claim they did this in good faith all along.”

What’s notable is that Forbes has been on the verge of a sell-off for years. Most recently, Koch Inc.’s private equity division was in talks to buy Forbes in partnership with another individual investor, sources told Axios in September. The company previously considered a blank-check merger in 2021.

Forbes editor and union vice president Hank Tucker told Fox News Digital that he suspects the possibility of a sale could influence management’s decision to move slowly on a potential contract.

“We are opposed not just because of wages, but also because of good severance protection and good redundancy protection, because I think everyone sees examples of a new owner buying a company and doing some redundancies fairly soon after taking control.” he said. “We want protections to address this and it seems as if Forbes is trying to hold us back, perhaps until a new owner comes along and can decide for themselves what priorities should be set in the contract on their side.”

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However, Murphy emphasized that other media unions would not have to wait as long for an initial contract as they did.

“It’s just disappointing when people in management like our editor-in-chief Randall Lane say things like, ‘I want us to have the best contract in all media,’ and then the company shows up and suggests a 1% raise.” and a salary floor of $60,000,” she said. “This is not the best contract in the media.”

Murphy highlighted the timing of the strike, which coincides with the launch of the company’s “30 Under 30” list, to highlight the work required to publish the lists.

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“The under 30 list is a really high-profile list for Forbes. It gives us a lot of attention,” she said. “But it takes the work of virtually every single team in the newsroom, months and months of work, to put together a list like this.”

“The scope is enormous,” she added. “There’s not really a part of the newsroom that isn’t involved in this, and so we felt like leaving that day kind of shows how much work it takes to do this level of journalism day in and day out. We basically want to take some of the attention and spotlight that this list receives every year and throw a small portion of it towards our contract fight.”

The Forbes Union falls under the umbrella of the NewsGuild of New York, which represents nearly 6,000 media professionals and other employees of news organizations in the New York area, including The New York Times, The New Yorker and Thomson Reuters, among others.

“Forbes’ success with ’30 Under 30′ is a direct result of the hard work of our members,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of NY. “It is long past time for management to recognize this fact with a fair contract.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Forbes for comment.

Original source of the article: Forbes editors are leaving their jobs the same day the company’s “30 Under 30” list is released