Last week, news surfaced that Forbes Media was in exclusive talks for a $650 million
sale to Michael Moe, who leads an investment group to purchase the media outlet.
As Forbes is in discussions with the head of merchant bank GSV, their employees hold
their own conversations. The New York Post reports that the Forbes employees are
looking to unionize in what could be the most inconvenient time for the company.
“We call on the company to voluntarily recognize the Forbes Union so that we may
swiftly get to the table and begin bargaining a contract,” Susan DeCarava, president of
the NewsGuild of New York said.
The NewsGuild of New York stated “over 80 percent” of Forbes’ 105 editorial workers
presented cards as they look to be represented by the union.
“We’re organizing to promote greater diversity in our newsroom, to gain more of a voice
in editorial decisions, and advocate for a more supportive work environment where
there are clear pathways for promotion,” Dawn Chmielewski, senior media editor, said.
Since March, Forbes has known about its employees’ intentions to unionize and issued
a memo to its editorial staff.
“Forbes’ owners and our management team made a promise in early 2020 to keep the
team intact. Forbes succeeded, avoiding layoffs, furloughs or salary reductions and
ending the year with 59 new employees. And this year, while many of our peers are
shedding jobs, especially in the newsroom, we’ve added 44 new employees.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
