PCMag, Mashable staff vote to approve strike

NewsGuild of New York-represented editorial workers at Ziff Davis, which includes PCMag and Mashable, announced that 97 percent of the membership has overwhelmingly voted to approve a strike, hoping that the vote will push the company to negotiate more seriously.

Union members have been at the bargaining table for over two years since announcing their union effort and winning voluntary recognition in late 2018.

“We are ready to do what it takes to win our contract,” said Max Eddy, unit chair and a PCMag staffer, in a statement. “While our members believe in the work we do, we equally believe that we deserve a contract that reflects the value and the amount of work we put into Ziff Davis — especially during the pandemic. The company has continued to bargain in bad faith and insists on unacceptable and inequitable wage proposals.”

Management’s most recent wage proposals offered no across-the-board raises in the first year of the contract. It also did not raise the entry-level salary minimum, and it wants to keep large part of the unit in the lowest salary tier, creating salary disparities.

“Our members do strong work, we know we do strong work, and we know we deserve to be compensated fairly for that strong work,” said Jordan Minor, a member of the bargaining committee and a PCMag staffer. “We’ve taken this step to finally settle this contract and empower our workplace to continue doing this work we’re all so passionate about.”