Disgusting union-busting behavior by Condé Nast. Journalists hold power to account, including at our own employers. They should be returned to work ASAP.
Solidarity with my former colleagues.
As a reminder, a member of Rewire management received a $24k raise last year, and Rewire’s executive director makes more than 3x this proposed salary floor.
To be frank: It’s insulting. Their proposed floor is $8,000 less than what our lowest-paid member makes. They want to wrap up bargaining by December, but we won’t accept less than what our members deserve.
A month ago, we proposed a salary floor of $90k to management, citing our costs of living, RNG’s wage disparities, and the fact that most of us worked second jobs in the last year to make ends meet.
Yesterday, management countered—with a salary floor of $60k.
I am so proud of the work my colleagues and I do at Rewire.
But by our calculations, management gave themselves $942,817.55 for their 7 salaries, and allotted $464,373.70 for our union's 6.
We are so disappointed by this and we want more equitable pay. Details on that below ⬇️
Our union members are proud of the work we do at Rewire, but we’re incredibly disappointed and jarred by the vast pay disparity between management and the unit.
By our calculations, mgmt gave themselves $942,817.55 for their 7 salaries, and allotted $464,373.70 for our 6. We deserve equitable pay.
We want to—and do—work hard. We care about Rewire & its mission. But it’s clear to us that management doesn’t see dedication to the cause as enough compensation for themselves.
We do not need to make the same salaries as management. But we do need to live decently, and we need to be paid equitably.
“I have confidence in our leadership’s vision and believe together we can create an environment that prioritizes fair compensation for all staff members. This change presents a crucial opportunity to align our values with our actions and foster a culture of collaboration and respect.”
“Without trust & transparency b/w the union & mgmt, how can we expect readers to find that in our coverage? By not paying unit members their worth & not staffing the newsroom adequately, we’re failing in our mission. I hope we can come together to reach resolution & align with our org values.”
“I was told during my annual review, 3 months into our executive director’s tenure, that while I deserved a raise, there was no budget for one. We now know that a member of management received a $24,000 raise this year. It’s inequitable and unethical.”
...We have 7 managers for 6 employees. When management is out the wheel keeps turning. When a unit member is out, the quality of work decreases, projects are dropped, and deadlines are missed even with clear handoff documents.” (2/2)
“I’m disappointed with the income disparity and the routine lack of integrity in management. We claim a culture we do not abide by. Management sidelines and gaslights employees, and refuses to take accountability for poor practices/systems... (1/2)
“I feel like I’m doing work that's important to the org as a whole, but my salary doesn't reflect that. A higher salary would mean I could focus fully on this job instead of piecing together multiple incomes & it would give me the stability to plan for my future without constant financial stress.”
“I’ve been working a second job. Not for extra spending money, not for fun: but to cover the costs of my gender-affirming care. It’s exhausting. And obviously, I’m doing it because this care is necessary for me to live fully as myself in the type of landscape we live in today, as a queer person.”
Here’s more from our members on why the pay disparity between unit members and management is such a problem:
Why does this matter?
Unit members are an essential part of newsroom functioning. We make sure RNG’s content is fair, accurate, transparent and accessible to our audiences. And our unit is staffed with queer folks and people of color—communities historically underpaid and underrepresented in media.
So we’re asking for a minimum unit member salary of $90,000. And we’re asking management to forgo COLA for the remainder of the three-year contract. This will bring our members’ salaries closer to moderate income levels in the cities where we live.
Our pay is well below industry averages and median incomes in the areas we live and work.
By our math, one member of management also appears to have been given a $24,000 raise in the last year. Meanwhile, multiple members of the unit have been told there is no budget for pay increases.
The total management salary budget for 7 people is $942,817.55, while the unit salary budget for 6 people is $464,373.70.
The average management salary is $134,688.22. Meanwhile the unit salary averages to $77,395.62. It’s only $71,269.67 without the highest-paid unit member, who makes six figures.
Currently there are seven members of management and six unit members at RNG. But management salaries make up 67% of the salary budget (excluding one employee who is neither a member of management nor the unit). Meanwhile, RNG unit members’ salaries account for only 33%.
Since we last shared an update on bargaining, we’ve received additional information about management salaries at Rewire.
The TLDR: The pay discrepancy between management and union members is deeply unsettling.
Please support my former colleagues in working to make their workplace a more equitable one. And perhaps consider whether you want to continue supporting “progressive” personalities who are pro-union everywhere but their own workplace.
I am still paying off debt from a mistake Rewire made in my tax withholding in 2023, an issue that affected two union members that year. In addition to offering us zero help, management took so little care in “investigating” the issue that it happened to a third person the following year.
Management keeps touting a new era of RNG, and we’re excited to be part of that. But they continue to ask us to take on more work without offering appropriate compensation. We’re asking them to show up to the table in good faith and get serious about addressing RNG’s historic pay equity issues.
Management pitched these counterproposals as a compromise. But we view them as an opportunity to appear conciliatory while avoiding having to commit to legally-actionable wage increases.
Cost-of-living adjustments aren’t enough — and they go significantly further for members of management who make six-figures. And instead of giving us equitable raises, management is proposing to give a little more money for phone/internet services + an extra $250 for professional development.
By contrast, our co-chief content officers each made $131,797 and $120,212 in 2024. We estimate our new executive director makes $188K (we don’t have an exact number, because management refuses to share it with us). projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/o...
Instead, we’re each considered low-income in the city we’re required to live in. We could instead move to D.C., where the average salary is ~$130K, or Chicago, where it was recently estimated that a single adult needs to make ~$98K to not live paycheck-to-paycheck. But we’d need permission to move.
With the exception of one person, no one in our unit makes more than $75K. Most of us live in NYC, and, famously, it’s expensive. To be considered moderate income in the city, each of our members would need to make at least $90,720, according to the city government.
