The Daily Kos Guild (DKG) is heartened to have received a response from Markos, our founder, and, thus far, an absent party in our negotiations with Daily Kos Management (DKM). You can read his statement here. Simultaneously, Daily Kos Staff received an update via email and Slack from Will Rockafellow, Daily Kos president and another empty chair during all Guild negotiations.
We’d prefer to have these discussions at the table. We hope Markos and Will take us up on our standing invitation. About thirty of us are present at each of these negotiations—half of our DKG employees. We still want to have this conversation in person so we could more effectively help solve our financial problems.
The DKG also wants to extend our thanks to the Community for your ongoing support. We all love Daily Kos, and want to keep it thriving. Our Community support has been essential in getting us more information.
Markos' post was illuminating and helpful. And for the Staff who have struggled for the past two weeks, worried they’re about to be laid off, this was the very first time we had heard from him about this.
We’ve seen the $3M+ loss in documents provided to DKG. We see Markos repeating that this inevitable situation is simply a matter of business, and there are no other options. We agree that there is a money problem that needs to be rectified. What we disagree about—and are attempting to negotiate—is the solution. So let’s get into the details.
RELATED STORY: Daily Kos announces staff layoffs; Daily Kos Guild demands to negotiate
FACT CHECK: With the financial picture provided to us by DKM, the Guild has brainstormed a suite of cost-savings through voluntary reductions and buyouts, improved processes for collecting targeted donations from the Community, and all the options we laid out earlier this week.
That proposal has been in the works for five days, because five days ago is when we got the dire financial information Markos shared this morning. In five days, the Staff this company already pays has made significant headway in solving a problem management did not share with us in any detail for at least four months.
FACT CHECK: It’s true that two executive-level positions were not filled after departures in 2022. But there were new hires—at high levels, requiring high salaries. At least three top-level folks who have no long-term connection with the Daily Kos Community were hired to carry out the reorganization.
These are the folks who come to our bargaining sessions with DKM’s lawyer: Recent hires without institutional knowledge, answers to our questions, the authority to make decisions, or familiarity with how this organization raises and spends money.
FACT CHECK: Despite planning to lay off 20% or more of our Staff—estimations have varied with each update—Daily Kos Management is still in the process of hiring a new Advertising team to beef up our Advertising department to solve our revenue problem. Yet, as Markos himself admits in his story, ad revenue is unpredictable, and putting more ads on the site is a non-starter.
Fixing Daily Kos' revenue problem will require upping engagement, which means we need improvements to our Content and Activism departments—not cuts—and support for Staff who already work hard to increase engagement. Laying these people off and hiring more Advertising folks seems counterproductive.
We were given a glimpse of Daily Kos’ future plans in our bargaining session Tuesday, when a member of PeopleOps suggested that any content on the front page—regardless of quality or relevance—increases engagement. So we find it interesting that Content and Activism—the people who make the news you read here, and build the campaigns that help you do something about it—are the prime targets of DKM’s “people-cost savings” plan.
FACT CHECK: According to best management practices nowadays, layoffs should be the absolute last resort, rather than the opening gambit. Forbes Magazine, hardly a left-leaning publication, recently posted this analysis:
Instead of a knee-jerk downsizing, companies should offer temporary furloughs with an option to return once the circumstances improve. The firm could convert employees into temporary or contract assignments for the short term until the economy rebounds. Rather than automatically defaulting to layoffs, employers could consider pruning the employees’ pay and reducing hours worked.
Companies can enact a four-day workweek or provide the option of going on a sabbatical and returning when the situation improves. The firm could initiate work-sharing programs or institute hiring freezes, allowing attrition without replacement.
FACT CHECK: Our Community was asked for support, but not given the full scope of our shortfall or the consequences of it, a targeted way to direct funds to fix those issues, an easily-located Donate button, or options to donate more if you choose. We, like the Community, understand that what Markos is describing is a disaster. But layoffs aren’t a real solution—only a partial payment for bad decisions or reactions.
FACT CHECK: We have been told that Daily Kos needs to account for an additional $2M in savings. (Non-people cuts have already been implemented; this is the remainder of our shortfall.) There are about 60 members of DKG, depending on who you ask. (We were unable to complete our bargaining related to "disputed" Guild members before the layoff announcement). Our people costs (total compensation including salary, benefits, stipends, and other people-related expenses) total about $6M per year. After the planned layoffs, there would be 45 to 50 of us.
There are approximately 30 management employees at Daily Kos. The people cost of that group is about $8M per year.
This layoff would create an internal organization of managers with one or two direct reports each, on average, who make more than two times as much as each of their employees, on average.
We find it interesting that, when faced with hard decisions, the brunt of the cuts will come from the body of this Guild, which the company voluntarily recognizes but has not actively engaged with until now. We are also concerned that the planned cuts will run deeper than we believe DKM’s plan accounts for, as other Guild members (and perhaps managers who no longer have anyone to manage) depart voluntarily. We do not see how the plan, as we’ve been apprised of it, creates a sustainable forecast for Daily Kos.
We understand the math. We do. What we don't understand is how this math reconciles with the hiring of multiple high-level managers from outside the company and with no familiarity with what has defined us as a company, a Staff, or a Community for so long.
What we don't understand is why in addition to those managers, DKM has hired a series of consultants.
What we don't understand is why DKM has not approached the Guild with this info until now, and why our energy, expertise, and eagerness to help are being dismissed.
What we don't understand is why the Sales team is being expanded when, as Markos writes, there aren't enough page views to serve more ads—at least not without putting ads in places the company is (rightly) not willing to entertain.
Supporting the Daily Kos Guild doesn’t mean abandoning Markos or the leadership that’s worked with the Community since the very start. We are not enemies. We’re the same people who work together to create this space, and we’d like it to last longer than we’re currently forecasting. We share the same goal: Elect more and better progressives. Advance justice. Protect the unprotected.
We are not a faceless, amorphous few. The Guild represents 67% of Daily Kos employees—most of us directly responsible for creating, maintaining, and improving the parts of Daily Kos you see every day. Almost every single one of us has participated in our meetings, bargaining sessions, and outreach. We are here for each other and immensely grateful for the mutual support.
We, and you the Community, are Daily Kos. In our Guild discussions, we are all frightened. Our members are canceling weddings, rescheduling medical procedures, and trying to figure out the next steps of our lives during devastating inflation, uncertain job markets, and the shared trauma of not only losing employment but our Community, as well.
As the Daily Kos Guild, we want more and better protections for all workers—and we want to find a common ground with the folks in charge so we can continue realizing that goal. We strongly believe that meeting in the middle can happen if everyone comes to the table—including Will and Markos.
RELATED STORIES:
Solidarity: An update from Daily Kos Guild before Jan. 24 bargaining
I work for Daily Kos: Our writers can speak truth to power—for now
We are extremely grateful for every single member of the Daily Kos Community who is offering their support. Thank you! We all share the goal of making sure Daily Kos remains the best political action and information community on the web.
Every day, Community members ask how they can support us. Here are a few actions anyone can take to strengthen our position. Help spread the word!
How to Support Us:
- Recommend this story—help it reach and stay on the Trending list.
- Leave a comment, even if it is just a word or two, to let us know you are an ally. Memes, gifs, union logos, photos, emojis, anything—say hello!
- Share a link to this story widely on all social media, and tag us @DailyKosGuild on Twitter and Instagram.
- Use these hashtags when possible: #DailyKosGuild #NegotiateWithDKG #Solidarity
- Follow @DailyKosGuild on Twitter and Instagram.
- Please also follow individual Daily Kos writers and Staff on Twitter and Iinstagram.
- Follow the DKG Solidarity group!
- Please sign our petition: Tell Daily Kos to uphold its mission, values, and commitment to working people, and share the petition link with others
- Share our story with pro-union friends and family through texts, email, and personal conversation!
Daily Kos Guild (DKG) represents 54 Daily Kos Staff members and another 6 "disputed" positions, accounting for 67% of Daily Kos' total workforce. DKG is a Pacific Media Workers Guild member, a local of the NewsGuild/Communication Workers of America, and was certified as the bargaining unit of represented Staff in 2022.
As a member of The NewsGuild/Communication Workers of America, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues across the country, especially with our colleagues at The Washington Post. Daily Kos Guild will not let our democracy die in darkness.
