NBC News Guild, WGAE Object To News Division And MSNBC Layoffs
14.01.2023 - 02:19
/ deadline.com
The NBC News Guild and the Writers Guild of America, East are objecting to a round of layoffs at the network this week, which impacted dozens of employees.
The NBC News Guild, which covers digital employees, said that it filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.
“Yesterday NBC News management abruptly and illegally laid off several union journalists without providing us any advance notice or rationale,” the NBC News Guild said in a statement posted on social media.
The guild also said that the network was trying to remove MSNBC.com staffers from the union, informing them that they were “no longer a part of the guild,” effective on Friday.
“The clear violation of the law is yet another brazen example of NBC attempting to strip its workers of their right to organize and bargain together,” the guild said.
The guild, certified in 2019 with about 150 employees, does not yet have a contract. But Tate James, NBC News Guild unit chair, said that the complaint is that NBC News still is required to bargain with the guild because it involves significant changes to working conditions. They have learned of about a half dozen News Guild members impacted, he said.
An NBC News source challenged the guild’s assertion that a law was violated and contended that notice was given of the impacts of the layoffs. The company plans to schedule follow ups with the guild to discuss in more details. The source also said that reporting structures have shifted, something that is not uncommon at companies.
The layoffs were in the double digits, according to a source, out of a workforce of about 3,500. The staff cuts also were scattered across the divisions at NBC News and MSNBC, according to the source. The