NewsGuild president claims MSNBC layoffs violate the law, talks accountability
Jon Schleuss told Fox News Digital the union will do whatever it takes to get employees what they want.
The NBC Digital NewsGuild blasted NBC management on Thursday, accusing the Comcast-owned company of "an unrelenting pattern of union-busting" and laying off Guild-protected employees.
"NBC Digital NewsGuild and The NewsGuild of New York unequivocally condemn NBC management’s announcement Thursday of plans to lay off 14 Guild-represented workers as part of broader layoffs at the company," the NBC Guild wrote in a scathing letter.
"The NBC Digital NewsGuild – which represents reporters, editors, designers, video journalists, animators, social media strategists and editorial staff of NBC News Digital – has been negotiating its first contract since union certification in 2019. Any changes to working conditions, including layoffs, must be bargained," the letter continued. "The NYGuild is evaluating all options and expects NBC management to bargain in good faith on these proposed layoffs as they are required to by law."
NBC NEWS EXECS DON’T ‘PRACTICE WHAT THEY PREACH’ AMID UGLY LABOR DISPUTE, NEWSGUILD MEMBER SAYS
NBC News and MSNBC staffers chanted and marched outside NBC’s New York City headquarters amid a labor dispute last year. (Fox News)
First Vice Chair of NBC Guild Carlin McCarthy added, "Rather than terminating more of our colleagues and stalling at the bargaining table, NBC should actually agree to a contract that respects industry standards, including just cause, with it’s workers."
According to the Guild, NBC "illegally" laid off seven union workers last January without bargaining, and informed others staffers "they were no longer protected by the union."
"The NewsGuild of New York filed unfair labor practice charges against NBC, which are still pending at Region 2 of the National Labor Relations Board, and the represented workers staged a one-day walkout in February," the letter said.
The NBC Digital NewsGuild represents reporters, editors, designers, video journalists, animators, social media strategists and editorial staff of NBC News Digital. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
NewsGuild of New York President Susan DeCarava also blasted management at the Comcast-owned company.
"NBC management has engaged in an unrelenting pattern of union-busting since NBC Digital NewsGuild unionized, including threatening and surveilling employees who are exercising their right as union members," DeCarava said. "We will fight to protect our members and expect management to adhere to labor law and bargain with us."
NBC management is talking to union reps about the severance agreements, Fox News Digital has learned.
The News Guild organized the News Digital editorial organization over three years ago with 160 members and it has since grown to 280 members.
The NewsGuild’s letter came after Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that "NBC News will implement layoffs across the network starting today, per sources familiar…. Total number of employees affected will be fewer than 100 (out of staff of thousands)."
TVNewser, an Adweek-owned blog dedicated to the TV news industry, then reported that "several dozens" of employees will be laid off.
"Those directly impacted by the layoffs have been notified, and will receive a severance package and outplacement and 60 days of notification before their employment ends," TVNewser’s A.J. Katz wrote.
NBC News is thought to be eliminating some current job positions to help the company’s future, but the broader NBCU News Group --which includes CNBC, MSNBC and others -- has over 150 new and open positions that it’s actively looking to fill. Impacted NBC News employees are encouraged to apply for these positions.
NBC News declined comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
LESTER HOLT, RACHEL MADDOW AND OTHER NBC NEWS, MSNBC STARS ABSENT FROM RANK-AND-FILE WALKOUT
Last year, Fox News Digital was on the ground for the one-day walkout when ugly labor issues hit a boiling point. NBC staffers, and their laid-off former colleagues, chanted and marched outside Rockefeller Center along with Scabby the inflatable rat mocking NBC executives as "criminals."
During the rally, New York City comptroller Brad Lander, D., specifically called out MSNBC, NBC's left-leaning cable arm, for mistreating rank-and-file staffers.
"You can’t have the MSNBC brand be one that’s about progressives and then screw your workers," Lander told the crowd.
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Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
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