Condé Nast Reaches Deal With Union That Averts Strike Amid Met Gala

Ted Johnson
·2-min read

A strike of Condé Nast employees amid the Met Gala this evening has been averted, as the union said that it had reached a tentative agreement on their first contract with the publication.

“Our pledge to do ‘whatever it takes’ ahead of the [Met Gala] moved the company and our progress at the bargaining table kicked into high gear,” the Condé Union said in a statement.

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The union said that the agreement includes a $61,500 starting salary floor and $3.3 million in total wage increases.

The union represents more than 500 staffers at publications like Vogue, Vanity Fair and Architectural Digest. But the decline of the magazine business and slowdown of digital video led to the company’s announcement last year that it planned to trim 5% of its workforce.

The union said that the agreement also includes eight weeks of severance for employees on the layoff list, as well as three months of Cobra coverage or a lump-sum payment in lieu of coverage. It also includes an additional $1,000 payment.

Condé Nast’s Chief People Officer Stan Duncan wrote in a note to employees, “We are happy to have a contract that reflects and supports our core values – our content and journalism; our commitment to diversity and professional development; our industry-leading hiring practices and our competitive wages and benefits.”

The union also includes staffers at GQ, Allure, Glamour, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, Self, Teen Vogue, them, Condé Nast Traveller, Ars Technica, Wired and Pitchfork, as well as those in audience development, commerce and video.

A strike would have likely meant picketers outside the Met Gala, the annual fashion event organized by Vogue, drawing an array of boldfaced names at the cost of $75,000 per ticket.

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