Bloomberg Industry Group union calls for chief diversity officer

Fatima Hussein, a reporter at Bloomberg Law and president of the union that represents Bloomberg Industry Group staffers, sent out the following on Tuesday:

Dear Colleagues,

Guild leadership hopes you all listened in on the Bloomberg Industry Group Town Hall this afternoon, featuring Peter Grauer, chairman of the board of Bloomberg, LP.

We were glad to hear that the company is financially prosperous and that our CEO Josh Eastright has made a commitment to hire more workers in the coming year.  This prosperity is due to the hard work by each and every one of you.

We hope this news will encourage Josh to renew his promise to refrain from laying off workers in 2021 – as we’ve lost hundreds of colleagues to cuts in the past three years.  We also expect that our positive financial growth will bode for larger annual bonuses, given our hard work and dedication to Bloomberg Industry Group as we work from home. As a reminder, the contract calls for minimum bonuses, there is nothing precluding the company from awarding higher annual bonuses or spot bonuses.

The Guild was, however, dismayed to hear comments praising the layoff and dismissal of 500 workers since Bloomberg L.P.’s purchase of the Bureau of National Affairs. We believe these comments are out of touch with the fears of our hard working colleagues as tens of millions of Americans have already lost their jobs during the pandemic.

Additionally, during the panel discussion, Bloomberg, L.P. and Industry Group executives talked about their dedication to diversity and inclusion. While segments of the company have made efforts to improve hiring and retention of minority and underrepresented workers, the majority-white Town Hall panel showcased how the company has fallen short of achieving equal representation in the workplace.

Along with our previous requests for HR to audit pay for all workers and to consider its review process which further exacerbates pay inequities, we also renew our call for Bloomberg Industry Group to hire a diversity and inclusion officer. These are also issues we intend to broach with management during our next labor-management meeting.

We were also pleased to hear that there were no increase in costs to employees for benefits this year.  While an increase in mental health offerings is helpful, we are still saddened to hear about the benefits department refusing to cover COVID-related medical claims.

In preparation for our next labor management meeting, the Guild intends to send out (and hopes you will participate in) an anonymous survey this week to union-covered employees on work from home concerns, challenges you’re experiencing on the job, your willingness to come back to the office as vaccinations become available, etc.  Please look out for that communication.

We hope you’re managing your work positively during the pandemic, and are always here to serve you.  If you have questions, please reach out to me.

In Solidarity,