Hearst Magazines Union Hold Walkout After Contract Expires
NEW YORK, NY (February 3, 2026)—Writers Guild of America East members at Hearst Magazines will hold a half-day walkout today after management failed to reach a deal on a second collective bargaining agreement with the 400-member bargaining unit. Their first contract expired on Saturday, January 31, 2026.
The Hearst Magazines Union are holding walkouts and rallies at Hearst Tower in Manhattan, NY, and at Hearst offices in Los Angeles, CA, Easton, PA, Ann Arbor, MI and Birmingham, AL. Union members will be joined at the Hearst Tower walkout by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and NYC Central Labor Council President Brendan Griffith.
The collective action comes after a month of negotiations where management has proposed lower raises than members received in their last contract, increased in-office expectations without any guarantees of flexibility and offered absolutely no protections against AI.
The Hearst Magazines Union bargaining committee and contract action team said, “The members of the Hearst Magazines Union are walking off the job today because our contract has expired and management is still refusing to address all of our concerns/demands. We are returning unconditionally to work, and to the bargaining table, on Wednesday, February 4. We believe a fair deal for all Union members is not just possible, but imperative.”
Last week, the Guild announced that 85% of the Hearst Magazines Union bargaining unit signed a strike pledge. In addition, more than 2,200 union members and supporters of the Hearst Magazines Union wrote letters to management urging them to agree to a fair and just contract for WGAE members at Hearst before the January 31st contract expiration date.
“Hearst management forced their staff to escalate to today’s walkout when they failed to meet the members’ very reasonable demands before their current contract expired,” said Sara David, Vice President of Online Media for the Writers Guild of America East. “The Writers Guild and our allies are ready to support the Hearst Union should they need to strike to get a deal that fully addresses their concerns.”
The Hearst Magazines Union and management agreed to continue negotiations after the contract expired and will meet on Wednesday, February 4, for their last scheduled bargaining date.
The Hearst Magazines Union includes Hearst Magazine publications Autoweek, Best Products, Bicycling, Car and Driver, Cosmopolitan, Country Living, Delish, ELLE, ELLE Decor, Esquire, Food Network Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, HGTV Magazine, HOT ROD, House Beautiful, Men’s Health, MotorTrend, Oprah Daily, The Pioneer Woman, Popular Mechanics, Prevention, Road & Track, Runner’s World, Seventeen, Town & Country, Veranda, Woman’s Day, and Women’s Health.
In addition to Hearst Magazines, the WGA East’s Online Media Sector includes Bustle Digital Group, Civic News Group, Committee to Protect Journalists, Fast Company & Inc., Financial Times Specialist, Future PLC, Gizmodo Media USA, Jalopnik at Static Media, HuffPost, Jewish Currents, NowThis, Onion Inc., Salon, Slate, Talking Points Memo, The Intercept, The Root, Vox Media and VICE.
ABOUT THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA EAST
The Writers Guild of America East, AFL-CIO, is a labor union of more than 7,500 members working in film, television, news, podcasts and online media. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit wgaeast.org.
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