Forbes union statement on layoffs

In an email to staff on Thursday, Forbes management announced plans to lay off less than 3 percent of the workforce.

The Forbes Union and The NewsGuild of New York have not received notice as of Thursday that our members are affected. The union is in negotiations for a first contract with the company. Changes to working conditions – including layoffs – must be bargained and agreed to by the union under labor law.

Members see the timing of this announcement as purposeful, designed to try to strike fear in those who are currently on day one of a three-day strike thru Monday.

“It is yet another example of Forbes management’s union-busting,” said Andrea Murphy, unit chair and statistics editor for Forbes. “We see this behavior routinely at the bargaining table and in our workplace. It’s why we filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company Wednesday over their attempts at quashing union activity and discriminating against one of our members for union activity. We want the company to know, despite their efforts to intimidate us, that we are 100 percent not backing down.”