Los Angeles – U.S.-based journalists and media workers at Le Monde, the largest national newspaper in France, are beginning a one day unfair labor practice strike Monday. Every worker voted to strike after the Los Angeles-based subsidiary SEM USA Corp. refused to bargain in good faith. Le Monde Union is affiliated with the Media Guild of the West (TNG-CWA Local 39213), which also represents journalists at the Los Angeles Times. The collective action comes after several months of unsuccessful negotiations with the newspaper’s management, which is based in Paris. The company has committed several unfair labor practices during the course of bargaining by failing to provide counterproposals for months during bargaining sessions, setting arbitrary deadlines to conclude negotiations and proposing changes to tentative agreements.
Workers handle a portion of editorial work and contribute to the production of La Matinale, the newspaper’s morning news app and overnight updates for Le Monde’s French and English websites. They also produce content for Réveil Courrier, the morning app from Courrier International, which is distributed from Los Angeles.
The office employs five staff members on French contracts and nearly twenty journalists on U.S. contracts. The latter, organized as Le Monde Union, are protesting significant disparities in treatment between the two groups, despite the fact that they all work in the same office and perform similar roles. Notably, employees on French contracts receive twice as much vacation time as their U.S. counterparts and housing allowances, among other benefits.
“It’s incredibly frustrating to do essentially the same work, in the same office, for the same company, while receiving fewer benefits simply because we are on U.S. contracts,” a member of the bargaining committee said. “We see our colleagues taking time off and enjoying benefits that are unavailable to us, even though we work side by side. We’re proud of the work we do for Le Monde, but we should not have to accept second-class working conditions.”
Employees under American contracts are paid below the California market rate for experienced journalists, particularly when compared to major publications like the Los Angeles Times. After months of negotiations, management proposed a 2.5% raise, a woefully inadequate offer given that cumulative inflation in the U.S. has surged by over 25% since 2020 and that compensation has not kept pace with the rising cost of living. Several underpaid workers had already left Le Monde before bargaining even began.
Le Monde has also refused to agree to “just cause,” a standard feature of American labor contracts that requires employers to have a transparent process before disciplining or terminating a worker. Just cause offers protections comparable to those already guaranteed by French labor law. It is unclear why Le Monde would deny its U.S. employees the same fundamental job security protections that French law extends to all workers, and that U.S.-based employees on French contracts receive.
The Le Monde Union calls on management to negotiate in good faith and take its proposals seriously, particularly regarding wages and just cause, and the disparities in treatment between French and local contracts.
Media contact: Le Monde Union – lemondeunion@gmail.com