Showdown Time: Schneps Reporters Seeking to Unionize Head to Vote

Schneps Media, which publishes a string of local newspapers from Manhattan to the Hamptons, is under fire from its editorial employees who are pushing to unionize with a vote set for July 24.

The union said it reached out to company founder and president Vicki Schneps-Yunis d her son, CEO Josh Schneps and asked them in mid-June to voluntarily recognize the union and begin contract negotiaonts. r

Vicki Schneps-Yunis sent an 800 word memo to editorial employees urging them to vote “no” on the union authorization vote that is slated to be held July 24 and asked to sit down and talk.

The union said the overture came too late. Reporters in the five boroughs are slated to vote in an office that Schneps has in the Metro Tech Building in downtown Brooklyn on July 24. Long Island based employees are slated to vote at at 329 Hempstead Turnpike, West Hempstead, NY. The election is supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.

There are 27 editorial people who are eligible to vote, representing journalists across 10 publication groups including the daily amNY, the weekly Villager in Manhattan, as well other weeklies across the five boroughs including the Brooklyn Paper, the Bronx Times, the Queens Courier, QNS and on Long Island the Long Island Press, and Dan’s Papers in the Hamptons as well as niche magazines including New York Family. The company web site claims it publishes over 70 publications in print and digital formats. At least two other publications, Gay City News and Caribbean Life, do not have editorial employees to vote in the election.

According to the union's website, “the request [asking for voluntary recognition of the union ] follows a decision by 81 percent of eligible staffers to sign a mission statement and 85 percent union authorization cards,” the site reads.

The company web site said the company traces its roots to Vicki Schneps starting the Queens Courier in her living room in 1985. She said she realized the power local media could have after her first born daughter, Lara, was diagnosed with a birth defect that left her with intellectual disabilities. She was known as the Willowbrook State School for the Mentally Retarded on Staten Island in the mistaken belief that it was a school that could help. Instead, it was a horrible institution that was forced to close after its treatment of children and deaths was highlighted in large part because of conditions uncovered by a young investigative reporter, Geraldo Rivera. “It left a lasting impression on me how the power of the press helped focus on the needs of people with mental retardation and ultimately brought change forever,” Vicki Schneps-Yunis is quoted as saying. She formed the Queens Courier in 1985 in part of push for legislation that would make it easier for apartment dwellers to form co-ops to buy their own apartments.

But present day employees say they are struggling because of low wages.

Annual salaries for reporters start as low as $37,000 according to a past job ad on Schneps' website and that has contributed to high staff turnover. Max Parrott, a reporter at the daily amNew York Law according to a statement posted on the union web site said the union hopes to create an environment where people could “maintain a sustainable career in local journalism.”

“Many reporters have been talking with editors, Josh and Vicki for years about salary and editorial integrity concerns,said Isabella Gallo, a reporter at amNY Law and member of the Schneps Media Union organizing committee. “That has not proven successful, so we’ve chosen to unionize so we can have these conversations at the bargaining table, where we’re both legally bound to have good faith discussions over our concerns and what’s best for the company.”

Calls to Schneps Media management seeking comment were not returned by press time.