Exclusive: White House apologizes to Insider Union members for crossing digital picket line and offers support during open-ended unfair labor practice strike
President Joe Biden makes an announcement about the American Rescue Plan regarding union workers and retirees on December 8, 2022. Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
The Insider Union is currently on day seven of an open-ended unfair labor practice strike.
The White House crossed our picket line on Thursday by promoting an Insider story.
In response, the Biden administration apologized — and offered its support for striking workers at Insider and other media outlets.
On the afternoon of Thursday, June 8, the White House’s official press office issued a press release that crossed Insider Union’s digital-picket line. The release promoted and linked to a story published during the union’s ongoing unfair labor practice (ULP) strike, undercutting President Joe Biden’s self-stated aspiration to be the “most pro-union president” in American history.
The story, written by a fellow on Insider’s economy team who is not currently eligible to be a union member, highlighted data from the US Census Bureau that shows a marked increase in US manufacturers’ construction spending over the course of the past year.
“Today, Business Insider reported on the manufacturing boom under President Biden,” read the release, which the White House used to tout a new website established to highlight new investments made as a result of social spending and infrastructure bills passed by Congress during Biden’s first two years in office.
The offending release issued by the Biden administration on Thursday. The White House
The release included a link to the story and the entirety of its text.
Since the start of the strike, the union has been picketing outside Insider’s office and urging readers not to cross a digital-picket line, as well; this means supporting the union by avoiding engagement with all Insider content, including videos and stories. By linking to the story and promoting Insider-produced journalism in the midst of an ongoing strike, the Biden administration crossed the union’s digital-picket line.
That’s despite Biden’s stance that he is a uniquely pro-labor and pro-worker president.
“You’ve heard me say many times: I intend to be the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history,” Biden told a gathering of labor leaders at the White House in September 2021.
‘President Biden stands behind the right to strike’
In a statement to Business Outsider, a White House spokesperson offered an apology to all Insider Union members on strike for promoting the story.
And in a statement provided exclusively to Business Outsider later on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre additionally threw the administration’s support behind a series of strikes that have taken place at newsrooms across the country, including at Gannett and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“Across the country, we’ve seen a historic wave of newsrooms demanding fair pay and benefits. This week alone, journalists at Gannett, Insider, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette remain on strike,” said Jean-Pierre. “All workers deserve a voice in the workplace, and journalists are no different.”
“Journalists make it possible for ordinary citizens to better understand their world, be active citizens, and question authority — it’s only right that journalists be able to do so in their workplaces without fear of retaliation or intimidation,” Jean-Pierre continued. “President Biden stands behind the right to strike and urges media companies and their workers to negotiate in good faith and reach mutually beneficial agreements that ensure striking journalists get the fair benefits, quality of life, and wages that they deserve.”
Insider Union members and leadership at The NewsGuild appreciate the apology, as well as the support of the White House. “I appreciate the President’s support for journalists in this moment when news employers are openly violating the law at Insider, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Gannett, and other publications. Journalists are the watchdogs of democracy’s flame and deserve respect and dignity in their workplaces,” Jon Schleuss, President of The NewsGuild-CWA, told Business Outsider.
Susan DeCarava, President of The NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of TNG-CWA, agrees. “We appreciate President Biden’s support in acknowledging the necessity of unionized newsrooms to maintain a free press. I hope Insider management will come back to the bargaining table with an agreement that addresses our demands and that our members will ratify.”
What does it mean to cross a digital-picket line?
Insider Union members hold the physical picket line outside One Liberty Plaza. Madeline Renbarger
Because the union is currently withholding its labor, we have repeatedly and publicly asked readers to not click on or engage with any of Insider’s content — as great as it is — to demonstrate the value of our workforce.
In addition to not crossing the “clicket” line, readers can support striking workers by donating to the Union’s strike fund, tweeting directly at management, and even joining union members in person on the picket line outside Insider’s office in New York’s Financial District.
Emma Legault, Insider Union’s unit chair, told Business Outsider that support from her colleagues — as well as other unions around the country, readers who are not crossing the picket line, and now the White House — is part of what has kept her going during this fight for a fair contract.
“I’m proud to be a part of not only our union and local but the wave of unionized journalists across the country striking for fair wages, better healthcare, and crucial job protections. I’m glad to have the support of the White House and the president, and I echo them in urging newsroom leaders to come to the table with strong deals that members will ratify. We’re powerful when we stand together and demand our worth — and we know that when we fight, we win.”
The Insider Union has been on strike since Friday, June 2, as we urge management to remedy the increased medical costs many members have incurred as a result of illegally changing our health insurance, and settle a fair contract with good wages.
“Our members at Insider Union are demanding that the value of their journalism be recognized by settling their healthcare ULP and agreeing to a fair contract,” DeCarava said.
Business Outsider is a strike publication of Insider Union, which is a unit of The NewsGuild of New York.
Follow our Twitter for updates on the strike, and if you enjoyed this content and would like to throw in some cash for our members who are losing wages every day that we strike for a fair contract, feel free to visit our hardship fundraiser here. Want to help us tell the boss to reach a deal? Let Nich Carlson and Henry Blodget know you support us by sending a letter.