Law360.com union members approve strike authorization

Union members at legal news website Law360.com voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to approve a strike authorization after two years at the bargaining table and no contract.

The vote allows union leaders at the LexisNexis-owned legal news site to call for a strike if management does not promptly make significant movement in negotiations toward finalizing a contract.

The editorial staffers of Law360, including reporters and editors, are members of the NewsGuild of New York, the local union that represents nearly 3,000 media and research professionals working in the New York City metro area.

Law360 workers announced their organizing campaign in July 2016 when an overwhelming majority of staffers called on management to voluntarily recognize the union. In August 2016, a 92 percent majority of the editorial staff voted for Guild representation in an election after battling an aggressive anti-union campaign by company management.

“I am proud that after two years of negotiations, our members have continued to stand together, putting constant pressure on management to make progress at the table,” said Grant Glickson, president of the NewsGuild of New York, in a statement. “Though there have been meaningful discussions and agreements, we still don’t have the complete contract that our workers deserve, and we’re done waiting.”

Members of the Law360 Bargaining Committee have won tentative agreements on critical issues that motivated staffers to organize.

To date, the Guild has accomplished agreements on the elimination of story quotas and noncompete agreements that blocked staffers from taking other jobs; robust layoff protections; strict regulation of subcontracting; time-and-a-half overtime pay; and bereavement leave.

The agreements on overtime pay and bereavement leave were put into effect immediately.

Members and management are continuing to negotiate over, among other proposals, wages, health care, and 401(k) contributions.