WGA East Sets Walkout At Hearst Magazines For Thursday; Hundreds Sign Petition

deadline.com:

Hundreds of WGA East members who work for Hearst Magazines Media are planning to stage a walkout Thursday to demand a fair contract.

The half-day action is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET and will last the remainder of the day. “WGA East members at Hearst have been bargaining a first contract for over two years and their last scheduled day of negotiations is March 28,” the guild said. “With only one bargaining session left, the Hearst Union is taking collective action with a unit-wide walkout in their fight for a fair first contract.” Rallies in support of the walkout will be held at four locations: outside the Hearst Tower in Manhattan; at the Hearst offices in Easton, PA; at the Hearst offices in Ann Arbor, MI; and the Hearst offices in Birmingham, AL.

The guild represents some 500 of the publishing giant’s editorial, video, design and photo staff at more than 25 brands including Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics, Car & Driver, Oprah Daily, Seventeen, Elle, Redbook and Woman’s Day.

According to the guild, its members employed at Hearst Magazines have been “fighting an intense anti-union campaign by management while trying to win important contract proposals around fair salary minimums, fair wage increases, better severance, and strong anti-harassment protections, among other key issues.” More than 300 members of the WGA East and WGA West, meanwhile, have signed a petition calling on Hearst “to immediately agree to a union contract that lives up to its status as a leader in this industry.” See the petition and its signatories below. “Film, television, and other parts of the media and entertainment industries have long been unionized because creative workers