NBC News Guild, WGAE protest layoffs from News Division and MSNBC

The NBC News Guild and Writers Guild of America, East are fighting a round of layoffs at the station this week that have affected dozens of employees.

The NBC News Guild, which includes digital workers, said it filed a lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Board alleging unfair labor practices.

“Yesterday, NBC News management abruptly and illegally fired several union journalists without giving us advance notice or any reason,” the NBC News Guild said. said a statement on social media.

The guild also said the network was trying to remove MSNBC.com employees from the union, notifying them they were “no longer part of the guild” as of Friday.

“This clear violation of the law is another cruel example of NBC attempting to deprive its employees of the right to organize and bargain collectively,” the guild said.

The guild, which was certified in 2019 and then had around 150 employees, does not yet have a contract. But Tate James, president of the NBC News Guild entity, said the complaint is that NBC News still needs to negotiate with the guild because it involves significant changes in working conditions. They learned that about half a dozen News Guild members were affected, he said.

An NBC News source disputed the guild’s claim that a law had been broken, arguing that the consequences of the firings had been communicated. The company plans to have follow-up appointments with the guild to discuss further details. The source also said reporting structures have shifted, which is not unusual for companies. The guild now represents about 300 employees as new features have been added in the past year, the source said.

According to one source, layoffs were in the double digits for a workforce of about 3,500. According to the source, the downsizing was also spread across NBC News and MSNBC divisions. The job cuts followed the announcement of dozens of layoffs earlier this week at parent company NBCUniversal. Other media companies such as CNN and Gannett have faced layoffs in recent months affecting hundreds of employees as the media company struggles with a slowdown in ad spending.

The Writers Guild of America, East, which represents about 300 MSNBC employees, said in a statement Friday that it was “extremely frustrated and disappointed” by the recent round of layoffs, including 30 of its members. The guild, which does not yet have a contract with the cable news channel, also asked the company to “agree to a fair deal.”

“This has a negative impact not only on those who are fired, but on every member of our unit and the programs we broadcast,” the guild said. “The layoffs underscore our need for a fair union contract that provides meaningful severance and other protections, and addresses the inevitable impact on workloads. Downsizing means more workload, longer hours and longer work weeks. We spent over a year negotiating with NBC management and discussing sensible proposals that would enable people to do good work without suffering from overwork and burnout – and a viable work-life balance achieve to have

The WGAE also argued that the layoffs were without notice.

“We call on NBC management to keep as many employees as possible in other positions with the company and to agree to a fair contract that addresses these workload and work-life issues and a living wage and other provide important protection,” the WGAE said in a statement.

Some of the layoffs began sharing the news of their departure shortly after they were notified. Jesselyn Cook, who covered damage online. She wrote that she came back from maternity leave to find out she had been fired. “It was a very short run, but I’m grateful for the time I had here.” Also joining Ezra Kaplan, business and technology producer for the network, and Carly Marsh, digital video producer today.