Do you enjoy making genuine connections and new friendships? Do you love hanging out with like-minded people? This is how Emma Specter, Union Steward and Culture Writer at Vogue, views the Condé Nast Union. During our interview about unions, striking, and the realities of working in the industry, she compared being a union organizer to party planning. “You’re planning the biggest, most inclusive party and everyone’s invited.” While that sounds lovely to our inner party-planning personas, many people struggle to wrap their heads around the hot-button issue of workers’ rights—especially in the fashion industry. Union members are frequently berated about “complaining” when they work for mega publications like Glamour, Teen Vogue, GQ, and more. Commenters claim unions like the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and CNU that have “suddenly” popped up are a side effect of the woke disease. Nevertheless, it is essential to remember that every piece of media you consume is created by thousands of unacknowledged people putting their blood, sweat, and tears into your favorite YouTube videos, viral magazine covers, and click-worthy articles.
However, much of this labor goes unpaid. Condé Nast Entertainment offers zero over time, with the Condé Nast Union stating that “Condé believes prestige is enough to cover the incredible amounts of unpaid labor.” Events like the Met Gala require 24-hour coverage, if not more, yet creatives only receive compensation for a scrap of that time. Constant work is the expectation and minute-to-minute updates are the norm, but hour-to-hour pay is non-existent. This unpaid work, coupled with Condé’s wage disparity issues regarding their BIPOC employees (I know you remember the huge Bon Appetit scandal), amounts to thousands of dollars of lost wages. Most of these employees aren’t even employed full-time. Instead, they work on a permalance schedule, where limited pay is trickling in at an inconsistent and unstable rate. The union was created to solve these issues along with supporting Condé’s employees. Specter happily elaborated on the importance of the CNU: “It’s gratifying to know there are resources and some kind of protection at our jobs.” She also noticed an increased sense of solidarity within the workplace. “It helped me [realize] just because this person looks different and has nicer clothes, doesn’t mean we have to be natural enemies and doesn’t mean that their life is perfect, that they have everything they need, and that they don’t deserve sweeping change on the small or big level in their workplace.”
Condé Nast workers have been officially unionized since September 2022. Their efforts, though impactful, have gone largely unnoticed by the general public. Unless you are closely following union members, it’s unlikely you were aware of its existence until their recent strike. Such was the case for Anne Hathaway, who walked out of a Vanity Fair photo shoot in the midst of hair and makeup after a SAG-AFTRA member informed her of the strike that day. Her choice to walk out mid-shoot was not only an act of solidarity, but a move that brought much wider attention to the union’s efforts. It was particularly fitting that Hathaway was involved; many signs on the picket lines wittily (and rightfully) referenced The Devil Wears Prada. Some made use of Meryl Streep’s iconic monologue about cerulean blue, taking her words about the countless people who influenced Hathaway’s character’s sweater choice and twisting them to instead credit the many people who make Condé Nast publications possible. Other notable signs included “Jobs for employees? Groundbreaking” and “The devil wears sunglasses when she lays you off,” a testament to how clever Condé’s employees truly are.
Fashion isn’t the only industry in the hot seat. In the past few years, we have seen a rise in union efforts across industries, from Amazon, Starbucks, and REI workers voting to unionize (even in the face of union-busting efforts at the hands of their employers), to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes that put the entire film and television industry on hold in 2023. As Specter said, “strikes and work stoppages, in general, have such a ripple effect,” reaching across industries to create solidarity and help people understand their worth and their right to advocate for more.
In the context of the strikes in Hollywood last year, Specter previously worked in film and noted that “there’s this misconception that everyone in that industry makes money, and makes so much money.” So what else could they possibly need? Many of her industry friends are “young, queer, POC, or some combination thereof, writers who, if they can get a job in a room at all, often have to be the only person of their identity in that room.” This is a sentiment she relates to as a queer female journalist and knows many of her other friends in journalism can relate to, especially because many Condé journalists covered the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes themselves. In her words, “all these industries are linked and they’re linked to every industry that has seen union work happen in it.” None of these efforts are done in a vacuum, and the power of people from one company or industry making the effort to organize reaches far beyond their own workplace.
The formation of the union at Condé Nast and their work stoppage in January brings attention to a larger issue facing many people working in fashion and other creative industries. While our industries are made out to look glamorous and over the top, as one sign at the New York strike read, “dream jobs are still jobs”. Specter relayed a question that her friend who works in union organizing in the fast food industry often centers her conversations around when trying to get new people to join: “do you think you’re worth more than they pay you?” As glamorous or aspirational as these industries are made out to be, many people are struggling to afford rent in the major cities their publications are based in, and in Specter’s words “a company is assigning you worth, and if you aren’t empowered to counter and say ‘actually, this is my worth and this is the collective worth of me and my coworkers’ it’s going to be very easy for them to exploit you.” She added that most of the people she speaks to about unionizing love their jobs, but unionizing goes beyond monetary goals. “It’s also about redefining what’s okay in your industry.”
Many people around the world dream of working at major fashion brands or publications like Vogue, but it is incredibly hard to make it in these industries without a largely unrealistic amount of resources. With salaries that may amount to less than minimum wage, it can be impossible to survive in these industries. Specter’s parents are journalists that were able to cover the costs of her English degree at Kenyon College, but for many who aspire to work in the industry, that is far from reality. She chooses to be open about the resources available to her because “a lot of people in media don’t talk about [those advantages].” While she understands why some may be hesitant to do so, she recognizes that it “makes people who don’t have that leg up feel like ‘oh am I not doing it right?’ or ‘am I somehow not working hard enough?’ [But] the truth is you are working hard enough and this is not a fair industry.”
For the few marginalized people who do make a livable wage at major fashion publications, the reality once you get there can feel far from a dream. Many marginalized people experience “having to speak for all queer people, or all Black people, or all trans people” due to lack of representation in the workplace, and can face discrimination and hostility from coworkers. Specter relates to this as a queer and visibly fat person, and is able to be thankful for the life she is living, while also recognizing that she can want more. At the end of the day, these union efforts are about advocating for what is deserved, recognizing your worth, and making dream jobs a livable and gratifying reality.
Words by Flora Medina and Miia Popovics.
Interview and Graphics by Flora Medina.