NEW YORK — Journalists from The New York Daily News and Forbes left their jobs Thursday amid contentious contract negotiations with management and a rough few weeks in the news industry.
Both strikes are historic: according to the NewsGuild of New York, they are the first in more than a century at the business magazine and the first in more than three decades at the legendary newspaper.
The one-day strike at the Daily News coincides with the Forbes strike, which lasts through Monday.
In downtown Manhattan, dozens of Daily News employees and their supporters gathered Thursday outside a small co-working space — the paper’s office since its Lower Manhattan newsroom closed in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.
Founded in 1919, it was once the largest circulating newspaper in the country.
Strikers marched around the building carrying signs that read “New York Needs Its Hometown Paper” and “Alden to News: Drop Dead,” a reference to the tabloid’s famous 1975 headline. They also set up a large inflatable rat, which has become increasingly well known in other trade union protests.
The union’s actions come at a tumultuous time for the media, an increasing number of which are owned by billionaires. This week, Time Magazine and Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ and other major magazines, both announced significant job cuts. Employees of Condé Nast publications went on a one-day strike.
Then the Los Angeles Times laid off more than 100 employees, or more than 20% of its newsroom, while staffers walked out in protest last week.
Meanwhile, more than 200 employees at The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, accepted buyouts in late 2023. And the entire Sports Illustrated staff could potentially be laid off as the iconic magazine’s cash-strapped publisher struggling.
The Daily News union says their strike is a protest against cost-cutting measures by owners Alden Global Capital, an investment firm that bought the legendary paper in 2021. The union was formed in 2021 and is negotiating its first contract with the company.
“We are fed up with Alden Global Capital’s continued budget cuts and apparent commitment to downsizing the newspaper,” Michael Gartland, a reporter and steward of the union, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. He cited efforts to curb overtime pay, among other things.
Union journalists at Forbes, who also organized in 2021, said they are similarly protesting stalled contract negotiations that have lasted more than two years, among other workplace issues.
“Management’s only interest is to delay, hold back and antagonize our members, and to attempt to block our members from protected industrial action,” Andrea Murphy, editor and president of the union, said in a statement. “We are taking this unprecedented step to demonstrate that we will not allow such disrespectful behavior toward our negotiations to continue.”
Spokespeople for The Daily News and Alden Global Capital, which has acquired dozens of newspapers across the country and moved to impose layoffs and other cost-cutting measures, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Thursday.
Forbes spokesperson Laura Brusca said the company is “working hard” to reach a contract with the union. She also confirmed that the company told employees on Thursday that it would lay off less than 3% of its workforce.
“We are disappointed by the Union’s decision to organize a walkout, but respect their right to take this action,” she wrote in an email.
The union called the layoffs another example of the company’s efforts to destroy unions. “We want the company to know, despite their efforts to intimidate us, that we are 100% not backing down,” Murphy said in a statement.
