Union workers at Jeff Bezo's WaPo plan walkout as insiders question billionaire owner's role in newsroom drama
The unionized workers at the beleaguered Washington Post are staging a 24-hour walkout over stalled contract negotiations, fueling questions about whether the paper's billionaire owner Jeff Bezos should intervene.
The Washington Post Guild will be protesting en masse Thursday over clashes with management regarding terms for current employees as well as terms for proposed buyouts The Post offered earlier this season as the paper implemented a 240-count job cut. This came after it was reported that The Post was facing a whopping $100 million loss by the end of 2023.
One insider tells Fox News Digital the planned walkout by hundreds of employees "reflects deep frustration" on issues like minimum salaries and seniority protections for staffers and that the company's unwillingness to further negotiate and only hold meetings merely to answer questions is "pretty high-handed and arrogant."
"[The] question is, what options are left?" the insider wondered. "You have a very frustrated workforce, with a lot of uncertainty and some… turmoil bubbling beneath and above the surface."
A Post spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the Guild initially said it wasn't available for a planned November 30 meeting.
"The company had earlier proposed November 30 but the guild said they were unavailable. The guild later came back to say they were available on November 30 if the company desired to meet. We responded to let them know we didn’t see a reason to meet but were available to answer questions. We left it to the guild to schedule a meeting and they did not respond," the spokesperson said.
The insider indicated Bezos needs to be involved in his company's workforce drama, saying "we all know the buck(s) stop with him."
"Bezos is so rich that none of this is mandatory. He’s acting like a conventional businessman running a conventional business. But is he, and are we?" the insider said to Fox News Digital. "No one likes to lose money, of course. But the fact is, based on his net worth ($171 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index), he could absorb $100 million in annual losses *literally* for the next 1,500 years. Obviously, he’s choosing NOT to do so for even two years."
"So, what are we then? An organization that has some value beyond what it can produce on the bottom line? Or just another business, subject to the same harsh financial discipline as any business? His actions suggest the answer is the latter," they added.
A second Post insider disagreed when asked whether Bezos should have a bigger role in the paper's inner disputes, saying, "It’s way beneath his pay grade."
"He’s the owner, not the CEO," the insider told Fox News Digital. "He’s probably provided general guidance and maybe a bottom line on what to spend. But details are left to others. He’s a pretty hands-off owner."
Since he bought The Washington Post for $250 million in 2013, Bezos has had a reputation among Post employees for keeping his distance from the newsroom, except when it comes to key appointments at the paper, like his new hand-picked CEO Will Lewis.
WASHINGTON POST PUBLISHER FRED RYAN LEAVING NEWSPAPER AMID STAFF TURNOVER, FINANCIAL STRUGGLES
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The insider says they're "fine with that" and cautioned about what could happen if the Amazon founder got involved in the day-to-day drama.
"He plays no role in news coverage and that’s what’s most important. If he started meddling in pay and management issues, he might get involved in news and editorial as well," the insider said.
A spokesperson for the Washington Post told Fox News Digital it was inaccurate for any Guild members to say there hadn't been progress made in negotiations.
This article was updated with comment from the Washington Post.