Bloomberg Industry union leader: This is why unions matter

Fatima Hussein, a reporter at Bloomberg Law and the head of the union that represents Bloomberg Industry staffers, sent out the following on Thursday afternoon:

Dear Guild Members,
As reported in the New York Times, 90 of our beloved colleagues at Bloomberg News will be laid off. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with them.
According to the Times report, John Micklethwait, Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief, announced the changes saying that the newsroom had “‘lost’ stories because we moved too slowly” and needed to have more accountability.
These do not appear to be economic layoffs, rather, job performance discharges. In fact, according to the Times, LP plans to add staff this year.
These 90 colleagues, soon to be unemployed, have no union and no way of challenging or appealing these unjust firings. This illustrates just how important it is to have a union and collective bargaining agreement that provides graduated discipline and outlined severance provisions.
In a few days you may hear from HR about why you should quit the union. They want you to so they can weaken our union and implement similar strategies here at Bloomberg Industry Group.
In Solidarity,

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.