Condé Nast Strikes Deal With Employees Threatening to Disrupt Met Gala

Condé Nast and the union representing employees of Vogue and other publications owned by the company reached a tentative agreement early Monday on a long-in-the-works contract. The deal happened about 12 hours before the first guests were set to arrive at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Met Gala, and after unionized employees had threatened to disrupt the event over the pace of contract negotiations.

Representatives for Condé Nast declined to comment for this article beyond sharing a message release the company sent after bargaining negotiations ended around 3 a.m. "On behalf of the management bargaining committee and leaders throughout the business, we are pleased to come to tentatively agreed terms on a contract with the union," it read.

Mark Alan Burger, a unit chair for the Condé Nast Union, said in a news release sent on Monday that reaching a tentative agreement was a result of members' commitment to do whatever it took to get a contract, "including walking off the job ahead of the Met Gala."

Leading up to the event, which is co-hosted by Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue, and costs $75,000 per person, the Condé Nast Union pledged to continue to take action as needed to bring the publisher to the bargaining table. In a post on X, the union warned on Saturday night that management could "meet us at the table or meet us at the Met on Monday."

The tentative agreement came after over a year of bargaining for union members to create their first contract. In addition to establishing just cause as the basis for firing employees, the agreement includes wage increases, additional parental leave and hybrid work protections for the approximately 540 members of the Condé Nast Union, which represents employees from titles including Vanity Fair, GQ and Architectural Digest, in addition to Vogue staff members. (The New Yorker, Pitchfork and Ars Technica maintain their own unions and contracts.)

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On Wednesday members of the Condé Nast Union, which held a one-day work stoppage in January, participated in a May Day rally at Condé Nast's headquarters at One World Trade Center in Manhattan. Later that week, staff members also covered Ms. Wintour's neighborhood in fliers reading "Anna Wears Prada, Workers Get Nada," taping them to lampposts and slipping them under windshield wipers.

Mr. Burger, who works as a social media manager at Vanity Fair, on Thursday said such actions were organized with the hope that "we can get a contract together and that everyone can attend and watch and work in that gala as they normally would."

"Everyone at Condé Nast really, really loves their job — it's a workplace unlike any other," Mr. Burger said. "It's a huge achievement to be involved in conversations that are shaping and influencing culture."

"Obviously, 'The Devil Wears Prada' is a huge cultural touchstone for us, especially," he added. "The idea that 100 girls would kill for this job — those days are over."

A correction was made on 

May 6, 2024

: 

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated the status of the contract talks between Condé Nast and union employees. A company representative said the two sides reached a tentative agreement early Monday morning; it was not the case that no deal had been reached at the time of publication.

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