Wired editorial staffers ask Conde Nast CEO to recognize union

Members of the Wired editorial staff sent the following to Conde Nast CEO Roger Lynch on Monday:

Roger,

Today marks 40 days since the WIRED editorial staff announced our union. Since then, many of my colleagues have been laid off and received second-rate severance packages not befitting their contributions to WIRED, despite the fact that we are producing some of the most important, highest-performing work of our 27-year history.

In the meantime, the WIRED Union hasn’t heard from your, and your silence is increasingly concerning. It seems to suggest you are breaking with the already established precedent at Conde Nast of swift voluntary recognition. I implore you to stop stalling and recognize the WIRED Union immediately. Fighting our union would be a waste of time and resources, and it will severely erode trust between our union and Conde Nast management.

We are more resolute than ever before. More than 90 percent of the WIRED staff participating in forming the union and support it. In fact, Conde Nast’s almost six-week silence on recognition reinforced my personal commitment to this cause.

Our ultimate goal is to preserve WIRED’s values and to strengthen its claim as the publication best qualified to report on technology and our changing world. We have always been clear that we want to work together with management to safeguard our publication. Despite the delays, we still do.

I urge you to voluntarily recognize our union immediately so we can establish a collaborative and peaceful relationship. This outcome is in the best interests of both parties.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.