Over 400 Washington Post employees have signed a public petition to owner Jeff Bezos begging him to improve working conditions and poor pay at the newspaper, following over a year of unsuccessful negotiations with upper management.
The petition notes that over the last year, “the Post has doubled the number of digital subscriptions and increased its online traffic by more than half,” as well as met or exceeded its advertising team’s targets.
Employees say none of that has trickled down to them, writing that “What we’ve found instead is a profound unwillingness by the Post’s top management to meet us halfway on a lot of the issues that are important to us,” said Metro reporter Freddy Kunkle.
“All we are asking for is fairness for each and every employee who contributed to this company’s success: fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security.” –WaPo Employee Petition
Conspicuously absent from the petition is contributing columnist John Podesta, who landed a job snarking at the Trump administration in the Opinion section and is apparently OK with WaPo taking advantage of their employees.
Another missing signature is The Post’s David Ignatius – a columnist who was outed as a conduit for CIA leaks last January by former NSA analyst John Schindler – who said “When @IgnatiusPost speaks, Langley’s 7th floor lips are moving,” in reference to the CIA director’s office.
When @IgnatiusPost speaks, Langley’s 7th floor lips are moving. Zero disrespect, just a fact.
They are taking traitor Trump out now.
— John Schindler (@20committee) January 13, 2017
The disaffected WaPo employees have even made a 2 minute video to explain their position. “More than 400 of our colleagues have signed this petition, and they’re just asking you to listen,” says Global Opinions editor Karen Attiah in the video that accompanied the written petition.
‘More than one year ago, the Guild’s bargaining committee entered into negotiations with the Post, hoping to achieve some of the benefits for our members and share in the success that we’ve had for the past year,’ Freddy Kunkle, Metro reporter and co-chair of the Guild at the Washington Post, said in the video. –Daily Mail
The petition was announced one day after a tweet by Jeff Bezos in which their boss – worth $141 billion, asks for philanthropy ideas.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) June 14, 2018
President Trump just couldn’t resist…
Washington Post employees want to go on strike because Bezos isn’t paying them enough. I think a really long strike would be a great idea. Employees would get more money and we would get rid of Fake News for an extended period of time! Is @WaPo a registered lobbyist?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 201
Your move Jeff.
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