Two Versions, One Truth — Evidence For My Claims About The Young Turks
See for yourself: Documents, emails, articles, tweets supporting the claims I'm making about Cenk Uygur's employment practices and the two versions of why Young Turks workers unionized.
Navigate to the sections:
INTRO — Purpose Of This Article
4 Articles By Reputable Journalists — Good Starting Point
TYT’s Version Of Why A Union Formed At The Young Turks
My Version Of Why A Union Formed At The Young Turks
Conclusion — One Of These Is Not True
INTRO — Purpose Of This Article
There are two versions of a story: why workers at The Young Turks unionized.
My hope is that the following information will enable you to assess which version is true — the story I’m telling (working conditions) or the one Young Turks founder and CEO Cenk Uygur told (political opponents).
Whether you already have an opinion or are just finding this, I ask you to put on your Objectivity Cap and consider the following information carefully. I won’t pretend to be objective but that’s why I’m wearing my Objectivity Cap. For this one.
I would be glad to provide full access to all my documents to a reputable journalist. TYT could also provide the same documents.
My previous piece detailing why being classified so as to receive no health insurance, paid personal days, paid holidays and bonus among other benefits motivated myself and co-workers to unionize at The Young Turks was written, in conjunction with the documentary “Tell The Truth, Cenk” to counter the narrative Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian and The Young Turks put out that the union originated as a ploy by Nancy Pelosi and her allies to damage Cenk’s 2019-2020 congressional campaign. In addition to evidence, it contains emotion, a biased perspective and overwrought analysis, as does much of what I’ve communicated on my podcast.
My personality isn’t small, I am prone to an off-putting forwardness and the unusual nature of a former employee making claims in such a manner could give one reason to be dismissive. While I will defend and expand upon the interpretative factors and will continue to be upfront about the emotional nature of this project, I fully agree that a presentation absent all that is an appropriate thing to do. Emotions are a drag, I get it.
The nature of this project is about trust and credibility so I’m understanding why some might be skeptical of mine. Totally fair. I have a lot of first impressions to make.
I have no reason to lie or fabricate evidence. Doing so is unethical and would invite rightful civil and/or criminal inquiry, far beyond the already uncomfortable level of legal risk I’m at. Telling the story honestly is stressful enough. Why would I make any of this up? Why would I do this if it wasn’t true?
The conclusion contains the crux of the matter — Two version of an event. One is true. Another isn’t.
The Four Articles & Background
If you’re new to the story and would like to step away from my telling of it, the following four articles are a great starting point. These form a solid baseline for the union-busting and the Young Turks’ claims about why and when the union began.
Each is properly-sourced by legit journalists and not a single detail has been refuted by The Young Turks. Cenk is interviewed in the Huffpo, In These Times and Politico pieces. I’m interviewed in The New Republic.
Feb 24, 2020 — The Young Turks' Progressive Founder Urged His Staff Not To Unionize | Huffington Post by Dave Jamieson
Mar 5, 2020 — The Young Turks Union Fight Gets Nastier With Charges of Retaliatory Firing, Withholding Raises | In These Times by Hamilton Nolan
Mar 5, 2020 — The Myth of the Progressive Boss | The New Republic by Kim Kelly
Apr 10, 2020 — Inside the union campaign that roiled left-wing network The Young Turks | Politico by Alex Thompson
— For more on me and the project, I was interviewed on The Letterhack (Mar 2, 2024) & The Vanguard (Mar 29, 2024).
— Finally: My podcast, Winners and Losers, has a lot of talk about this, including production discussions about the film. (playlist) Give it a look. I’m very bald.
TYT’s VERSION
TYT’s Version: Workers were manipulated into unionizing by Cenk Uygur’s political opponents as a ploy to harm his 2019-2020 Congressional campaign for CA-25 special election to replace Katie Hill against establishment favorite Christy Smith.
Feb 21, 2020 — It became public that TYT had rejected voluntary recognition of the union. TYT Union Tweet - IATSE Tweet
When we announced our decision to go union with @IATSE over a week ago, we had hoped @TheYoungTurks would respect our choice and voluntarily recognize our union. We are dismayed to report that they have refused. #TYTlive
- TYT Union, February 21 2020
Today, @TheYoungTurks refused voluntary recognition of the TYT Union. This is a disappointing decision from an organization that presents itself as progressive. Join us in telling @TheYoungTurks to respect their so-called principles and respect their workers! #1u #UnionStrong
-IATSE, February 21 2020
The Young Turks responded with the following statement on Twitter.
Completely inaccurate. We offered to recognize the union upon completion of an expedited arbitrator-supervised secret-ballot election within days. The union did not even respond to our proposal.
- The Young Turks, February 21 2020
The final sentence of the statement introduces the idea of “other” motives:
“The fact that IATSE has failed to respond to TYT, instead opting to issue misleading statement, suggests that there are other motives at play.”
Cenk adds his voice with a tweet:
“Oh look, in a totally uncoordinated way I’m sure, the candidate that @IATSE is currently canvassing for puts out the same false attack against us. And this is on the day that she’s participating in the only forum she’s ever come to. I wonder if she’ll bring it up. So genuine!”
Nothing relating to the union situation was brought up at the CA-25 Candidate Forum. (Watch it here on YouTube)
SIDEBAR:
IATSE endorsing Christy Smith is a separate issue from whether I deserved health insurance and paid time off for full-time video editing or whether other TYT employees deserved the freedom to collectively bargain for better working conditions by joining the union that represents professional production and post-production workers. As shown below, IATSE was receptive in 2018 to the Young Turks workers’ first entreaty and again when we reached out in the fall of 2019.
That said: Considering the unfair treatment Team Cenk had received from mainstream sources, paranoia was justifiable given the ‘fog of war’ of an intense and novel political campaign but before going public with insinuations of conspiracy the proper next step was fact-checking. Not all stories are confirmable but very few are this confirmable. In this case, original sources were feet away or in my case, a DM away. This did not happen. They didn’t check.I tweeted my role and perspective and I’ve known these people for years so it was clear I was willing to talk.
The facts were readily available.
/SIDEBAR
Ana Kasparian retweets Cenk, adding that she felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ with IATSE endorsing Smith:
“As an employee of TYT who is NOT part of management & not involved in the business side (I’m the EP of the main show meaning I have editorial say) I feel extremely uncomfortable w/ @IATSE’s endorsement of Cenk’s congressional opponent who does not share our progressive values.”
- Ana Kasparian, February 21 2020
She follows that tweet with:
“While I’m personally supportive of unions, this feels like it’s done in bad faith. The fact that this all blew up on the day of Cenk’s debate is also extremely suspicious.”
- Ana Kasparian, February 21 2020
Later that evening, Ana shares information that is not true and never was.
“The only thing I can say as a worker, me and several of my colleagues knew nothing about this union until this week. They claim they’re representing the will of the majority of TYT employees, including producers. But we never even got a chance to vote or share what we feel.”
- Ana Kasparian, February 21 2020
There was never any claim that the union would represent a majority of TYT employees. Where she got this information is unclear.
This is not opinion. It simply isn’t possible. Producers, hosts, executives, marketing, office personnel and assistants, unpaid interns, unpaid mods, human resources et al do not fall under the purview of IATSE, which represents production and post-production media and entertainment workers.
Only editors, graphics and studio technicians were involved, as Cenk tweeted on Apr 9, 2020, the day workers participated in a 2nd election.
“Our editors, graphics & studio technicians at @TheYoungTurks decided to join @IATSE today. We voluntarily recognized the union through an immediate secret ballot. Looking forward to working with them on a healthy, productive relationship.”
- Cenk Uygur, April 9 2020
The decision to join IATSE was not made ‘today’ as Cenk says.
Workers decided to join IATSE two months prior via card check, which was not voluntarily recognized. It’s also inaccurate that accepting the results of the 2nd election is to be considered ‘voluntarily recognized.’ Voluntary recognition can only happen at the beginning and can’t be a thing once denied, especially not after two months of union-busting.
TYT Union made this distinction with its announcement on the same day, using language that more accurately reflects what happened.
As TYT Union tweeted on the same day, workers voted again and Management officially recognized the union. (also: see statement from TYT Union on Feb 25th)
“We have voted again and have reaffirmed our decision to organize. We are pleased to announce that @TheYoungTurks has officially recognized @TYTUnion! We’re thrilled to now have a voice on the job at TYT! #TYTlive”
- TYT Union, April 9 2020
BACK TO FEBRUARY 2020
Feb 24th, 2020 — The Young Turks company account posted a ten-tweet thread focused on IATSE.
The 10th tweet summarizes The Young Turks’ version of the union’s origin:
“(10/10) If @IATSE doesn't agree, it's obvious they never had the support of our employees and this was all a ploy to intimidate us and the people who work at TYT.”
- The Young Turks, February 24 2020
ARTICLES DESCRIBING TYT’S VERSION
Feb 24, 2020 — Dave Jamieson wrote in Huffington Post that “Uygur suggest on Twitter that the union campaign was politically motivated by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees…”
[second highlight] Jamieson also spoke to staffers who told him an alternative version of when the union organizing began, that organizing “date back more than two years,”.
Mar 5, 2020 — The New Republic article by Kim Kelly described Cenk’s narrative similarly, adding the word “conspiracy.”
Apr 20, 2020 — Alex Thompson’s Politico piece also referred to it as a “political conspiracy.”
Cenk himself affirmed the narrative to Alex Thompson:
CENK’S EMAILS TO UNIONIZING WORKERS
In the snippets from emails Cenk sent to unionizing workers available on Alex Thompson’s twitter, Cenk indicates that workers were influenced by outsiders into unionizing.
Cenk asserts he believes what he wrote in the email, as he told Alex in Politico:
“In terms of the letters that I wrote, I meant every word of it. I don’t mind it being public,” Uygur said in the interview.
The emails are a fascinating window into the overall story but I’m focusing yellow highlights on the points Cenk makes that indicate his thinking about how the union formed. Admittedly, these selections are subjective, which is why I’m including the entire emails. Feel free to interpret differently.
The version Cenk seems to believe makes no room for the agency of the workers, as contrasted to my version of why we unionized.
That is: his assertion is that we were manipulated by dishonest outside actors and were not acting of our own interests, nor the interests of the company, but were duped by a 3rd party entity with bad or at least hidden intentions.
Block 1 —
“Before IATSE came in,”
— In fact, as shown in the articles (Huffpo, Politico), workers invited IATSE’s help, a necessary step in any new union joining a larger umbrella org.
“… that some folks got you to believe that being adversarial with “management” is the right thing to do.”
— Nobody got us to believe anything besides our boss’s public advocacy for unionizing.
— Cenk should explain who the “some folks” are when he is asked about this.
Block 2 ——
“This is why they don’t want me talking to you. Because I’m going to tell you things that are true that is super important for you to know. Again, please ask around and verify for yourself. Don’t just trust me or some union rep you’ve probably met twice in your life.”
— Cenk indicates the union reps we met were withholding information and insists what he is saying is true. I only experienced honesty, patience and kindness from the union reps.
— It’s true we had all met Cenk many more times than the union reps. This is why we feared retaliation from him and secretly organized to avoid being punished.
Block 3 ———
“Already, this particular union has misled you several times about what they “got out of us.”
— Cenk insists the union was being dishonest with workers.
“… when your so-called representatives taunt us publicly with things that aren’t even true…”
— The phrase “so-called” indicates Cenk believes the IATSE reps were not representing worker interests.
Block 4 ————
“But I’m sure someone at IATSE told you we’re big, bad management who is lying about everything and that the best thing to do is apply pressure by doing maximum damage.”
— Assumptions about IATSE’s intentions and honesty support Cenk’s narrative that there was an intention to do “maximum damage.”
“Speaking of strategy, some have suggested that the timing of the IATSE action was not because they were opposed to my campaign but because it was a good moment of leverage against me.”
— Cenk isn’t wrong that him running for Congress altered how leverage could be generated (a boss running for Congress while union-busting is indeed a unique circumstance) but this sentence presumes there is validity to the notion IATSE was motivated to unionize The Young Turks as a political act. If that’s that case, why was IATSE onboard in two separate instances before Cenk became a politician?
— IATSE wasn’t out to harm Cenk’s campaign; it answered a call from workers who wanted to address workplace grievances. That’s what unions do. No person familiar with Cenk’s politics (eg his longtime employees) would predict he would reject a union. We predicted he would be unhappy but not that he would reject it and do union busting. In TYT’s version, a trap is set that requires he refuse to recognize; the caper only works if Cenk busts the union.
Had Cenk voluntarily recognized the union, the ploy backfires. It becomes a big payoff: He would have been able to campaign on that as evidence of lived principles and it would be a bright spot in future political campaigns, such as his run for President in 2024, and his upcoming run for Governor in 2042.
— Rejecting the union is what harmed Cenk’s campaign. The person who made that decision was Cenk.
— It is also objectively true that Cenk’s campaign would have been harmed if he were forced to tell his audience the reasons (as detailed below) his workers organized a union. There was an incentive to offer his audience an alternative narrative.
A NOTE FROM BLOCK 1:
See red underline:
“No one ever raised a single issue and then we were suddenly engaged in some sort of trench warfare as if we’re evil management that deprives their employees of the basics.”
- Cenk Uygur, email to unionizing workers
Cenk claims that “no one ever raised a single issue” and that management had never deprived anyone of the basics. I invite you to compare that statement against the email below I sent (blue highlights) asking to address issues and the two classifications I was under which for twelve months denied me health insurance, paid time off and other benefits.
Reminders:
As stated above in a tweet, Ana is not management. Decisions regarding working conditions have nothing to do with her.
However, as a prominent journalist and journalism professor with a large following her role as signal-booster was not insignificant. She had an obligation to fact-check the story before affirming the narrative by spreading it.
On Feb 24, she reiterates she isn’t in the c-suite and refers her audience to TYT’s 10-Tweet thread:
“This is a detailed thread on the TYT Union situation. I really have nothing to add to this. Since I’m not in the Executive Team, management or the board, I’d appreciate if everyone stop demanding statements from me.”
- Ana Kasparian, February 24 2020
A FORMER TYT WORKER WHO HELPED START THE UNION
I responded at the time.
Content aside, I’m submitting this to support my claim that a worker from the union was making public statements and was available for fact-checking. No one from The Young Turks contacted me to fact-check the origin of the union, nor to challenge the veracity of my claims that the reason was working conditions.
Like with any former employee of any company, TYT had multiple ways of contacting me if it was their intention to seek clarity from someone who was involved.
“I'm a former employee of TYT who was part of the organizing effort. Got laid off in early Jan.
Speaking only to the suggestion that "other motives are at play," I can confirm that is total bullshit. We began the effort long before Cenk's campaign. In secret, of course.”
-
This is about living our principles & standing together to improve material conditions in the workplace. It's about worker rights, which Cenk is a big proponent of.The suggestion that TYT's employees are being manipulated by a IATSE or by Cenk's opponent is, frankly, insulting.
-
TYT is staffed by brilliant, hard-working, kind and decent progressives, liberals and lefties. It was a joy and a privilege to work with so many talented people.They deserve to have their right to organize recognized, not answered with insults and lawyer-speak. #solidarity”
- Hank Thompson, February 21 2020
SUMMARY
The above captures The Young Turks’ version of why and when a union formed at their company.
If an article is ever written, I’m hopeful they are given an opportunity to verify their claims and show supporting evidence for why their version is the correct version. This would include their proof that the claims I’m making are untrue.
If TYT’s version is correct, they should be able to prove it.
~
MY VERSION
My version: Workers unionized because of unsatisfactory and exploitative working conditions.
FURTHER:
I plotted to wake up the union effort in Spring of 2019, which began a year prior (due to a separate set of employment conditions), as a response to being classified in a way so as to be denied benefits. This was a core — though far from only — reason we unionized.
My Employment Conditions
Across 14+ months working full-time as a video editor, I worked under three separate classifications, none of which matched the benefits full-time regular employees received. I was hired three times for the same job.
The classifications are as follows:
Classifications
Independent Contractor Agreement
Dates: Oct 29, 2018 - May 27, 2019
Pay rate: $21.63
Part-Time Temporary Employee
Dates: May 28, 2019 - Oct 13, 2019
Pay rate: $21.63
Part-Time Regular Employee
Dates: Oct 14, 2019 - Jan 7, 2020
Pay rate: $21.63
laid-off: Jan 7, 2020
Claim: I was a full-time worker.
TYT’s Part-time threshold is 30 hours
TYT establishes 30 hours as its threshold for “part-time” as indicated in their email inviting me to be hired.
Hours Worked — Did I Work Part-Time Hours?
Sources of this information are paid invoices & Gusto payroll stubs. (examples below; would be glad to share all of them with a reputable journalist)
I’ve condensed all the hours into the following 3 sheets.
Page 1 is the period in which I was 1099 — “independent contractor”
Page 2 is when I was W2 — “Part-time temporary” & “Part-time permanent/regular”
Page 3 is a summary.
Feel free to do the math yourself but I would direct your attention to the orange cell column, “Average.” That means “Average Hours/Day” within that pay period.
Because not all weeks have the same # of workdays “Average” gives us a normalized rate that can be applied to a standard 5-day week.
8.00 means a 40-hr week.
6.00 means a 30-hr week. Simple.
Count the number of entries above 6.00 to see how many pay periods I worked over 30 hours. (I counted them if you don’t feel like; keep scrolling!)
As you can see, the Average Hrs/Day column shows I regularly worked in excess of 30 hours, often in excess of 40 and only twice worked at average daily rate that would place me in the part-time category (<6 hrs/day), both instances due to production cancellations.
Independent Contractor Classification:
- For 1 out of 30 weeks, I worked less than 30 hours.
- For 29 out of 30 weeks I worked over 30 hours.
- I averaged 7.92 hrs/day or 39.6 hrs/week
Part-time Classifications (Gusto does 2-week periods so this info is less granular):
- For 1 out of 16 pay periods, I worked less than 30 hours.
- For 15 out of 16 pay periods I worked over 30 hours.
- I averaged 8.1 hrs/day or 40.5 hrs/week
While working 40.5 hours a week, 10.5 hours/week above TYT’s part-time threshold, I was classified as a “Part-Time Editor.”
- Even if: Changing the part-time threshold to 32 hours means the Part-time/Full-time cutoff becomes 6.4, a standard I am well above for the vast majority of time.
Because I worked full-time hours I contend I was a full-time worker and deserved the benefits other full-time workers received.
My attempt to revive the union organizing drive was conceived while I was classified as “independent contractor.”
Money I Earned But Did Not Receive (Paid Days Off)
The unpaid holiday and unpaid personal pay total $3,460.80. ($1557.36 + $1903.44)
The paid holiday and paid personal days total $1038.24. ($865.20 + $173.04)
Had I been classified as a full-time regular employee, I would have received $4499.04 in paid days off.
$3,460.80 + $1038.24 = $4499.04
I only received $1038.24 in paid days off.
I received 23% of the PTO I would have received had I been classified as an employee from the beginning, amounting to $3,460.80 in unpaid days off.
(notwithstanding the value of the other benefits)
Records Samples — Invoice (1099) & Gusto (W2)
Overtime
Yellow highlight indicates overtime was tracked and paid.
Due to daily production schedules, video editors were expected to stay until the day’s editing needs were met and for a variety of reasons, this meant you sometimes stayed late. The nature of news/politics, tech hiccups, etc. — Some days are smoother than others and you don’t know until the very last minute so you’re expected to be flexible. Because of this, they’re paid overtime, which is fair.
— Independent contractors were not supposed to receive overtime, I was told by HR.
— I received overtime on 25 of 30 weeks as an independent contractor.
— I received overtime on 16 of 16 pay periods as a “part-time” employee.
— I was paid overtime on at least one day of 90-92% of the weeks I worked. (57/62)
Invoice Sample Of Unpaid Holidays & Unpaid Vacation/Personal Day
In the top clipped invoice, no pay was received for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. In the bottom, there is no pay for the six vacation days in late May.
It is around this time that my plot to unionize hardened into a plan.
Gusto — Unpaid Holidays, Unpaid Vacation/Personal Day & First Paid Time Off
The top two snippets show that 4th of July and Labor Day were unpaid, along with 3 unpaid vacation days during that pay period.
The bottom snippet dated Dec 19, 2019 shows that during Classification #3 I received my first paid holidays and paid personal days, over 12 months after working full-time. The yellow highlight shows the added lines labeled “Paid Time Off Hours” and “Paid Holidays.”
Furthering my claim I was a full-time regular employee is I had to operate under company control and review, the same as other full-time video editors. I was required to coordinate my vacation days with the scheduling manager to ensure my duties would be covered during my absence. I also covered for other editors when they took days off. My work was reviewed daily. I was required to uphold company standards and there wasn’t a single decision I made that wasn’t immediately revocable by a manager.
Doing my job any other way would have gotten me fired.
In my year end performance review, my manager, a very nice person and an excellent writer, referred to me as “a valuable member of the team.”
Independent Contractor Agreement
This was required to be signed to get the job.
The rate of $21.63 was not-negotiable, the editing department manager informed me.
I was not to be considered an employee.
“Contractor shall in no manner be considered at any time an employee…”
~
It details all the benefits denied to independent contractors:
No Benefits:
… vacation and holiday pay, sick leave, leaves of absence, health and welfare benefits, including coverage for medical, dental, vision, accidental death and disability, long-term or short-term disability, or life insurance, severance benefits, retirement benefits, including pension or thrift plan contributions, and/or any other benefits of any kind or nature provided to its employees.
~
Notables
— The person who held the role before me was a full-time regular employee who received benefits. (statement available)
— The other video editors with whom I did the same job and started the union were also full-time regular employees who received benefits. I don’t have paperwork of their status but this was affirmed by numerous conversations and is foundational to why we started the union. It bothered them that one of their own was treated this way.
— Had I been classified as a regular employee, I would have received benefits, including health insurance, paid vacation, paid holidays and bonus, plus the others.
— Despite the fact that my hourly rate was the lowest in the editing department, as an “independent contractor” I carried a higher tax burden than co-workers classified as “employees.” My higher tax burden corresponds with TYT’s lower tax burden.
— I only ever wanted to be treated with the same level of respect as the others with whom I worked and collective bargaining was my only hope of achieving that.
Employee vs Independent Contractor
The Young Turks is a video production company.
As a full-time video editor for a video production company, I used company equipment on company premises doing standard company business on the company schedule under company supervision.
The only item TYT didn’t provide for me to do my job was the Adobe Creative Cloud suite (Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects, Audition, Media Encoder et al). I used mine, which cost $52.99/mo. TYT did not reimburse me for that expense.
California State Labor Website
The California Dept of Industrial Relations has this detailed web-page “Independent contractor versus employee” explaining how the state regulatory agency considers the various factors.
The site makes it clear that requiring an agreement as a condition of hiring is not what determines employment status.
The ABC test requires the hiring entity to prove the worker is an independent contractor. If a single one of the 3 bulletpoints affirms employee status, the worker is to be considered an employee.
The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact;
As shown above: I was under company supervision in various ways: production and delivery schedules, quality standards, editing decisions, coordinating time off with the scheduling manager and a year-end performance review by a supervisor.
The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and
TYT is a video production company and I was a video editor who produced videos.
The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.
I had done some freelance video editing, as all out-of-work video editors do, but I didn’t have a company, wasn’t a registered business, never marketed my services, wasn’t a “business of the same nature” as TYT. Freelance work was intermittent. I got clients through personal contacts and from word-of-mouth. I’d been doing food deliveries to make ends meet and in the months before returning to TYT had been getting closer to moving back home in hopes of getting a handle on the financial and mental health difficulties I’d been struggling with.
Another standard the government uses is called the Borello test, which is more complex. See the state website if you’re curious.
Freelance Job For The Young Turks
One example of a freelance job I did was for The Young Turks.
The rate was $35. The project was a one-off with a clear end-date. I did the work at home at my own pace using my own computer. This can be described as an “independent contractor” kind of job.
An in-house editor could have done it but a company using an outside editor for a one-off or a limited project is an ordinary practice. To be hired as an employee for a one-off video would be unusual.
I was glad for the opportunity and found the exchange satisfactory. Absolutely no problem with this but it serves as a contrast to the work performed starting on Oct 29, 2018.
Nerd Alert visiting a Wizards of the Coast event is not what The Young Turks does as its primary course of business.
The following is what I worked on at TYT:
Primary editor: The Breakdown with Francis Maxwell, Happy Half Hour with Brett Erlich, Aggressive Progressive with Jimmy Dore
Backup editor: The Breakdown with Hasan Piker, Damage Report with John Iadarola, The Main Show with Cenk Uygur & Ana Kasparian
Other editing duties: Special coverage (eg Super Bowl, political events, etc), developing new show format for social media (“Facebook Native” was the term they used), a citizen journalist training course in partnership with YouTube called TYT Academy, designed a Bernie Sanders heart-with-a-band-aid Medicare4All tshirt and a commercial for ShopTYT, The 2019 Thanksgiving member special and other minor things as needed.
MY REQUESTS FOR HELP
Twice I requested redress of the problem.
Redress Request #1) - May 2019
The first was my meeting with HR in May 2019. I don’t have records to prove this meeting happened so take or dismiss the following on my word:
I’m not a quiet person, you can probably tell, so after months of complaining, the office manager arranged a meeting with Human Resources for me to express my grievances.
I expressed concern about TYT’s reputation and the risks it was taking that the audience might find out TYT employs people full-time without giving them benefits, which seemed to be in contrast to their principles. This felt like a weight I did not like being burdened with.
I also expressed how unfair and stressful it felt to be excluded from all benefits despite doing the same job as others. I was being denied thousands of dollars of income and I would have liked to see a doctor or at least have the assurance that I’d be okay if I became injured or sick. I did not deserve the extra stress caused by being 2nd-tiered.
Within a week or two of this meeting, TYT ended my “independent contractor” classification and began my classification as “Part-Time Temporary.”
The 2nd classification lasted until October when upon my third hiring I had a second opportunity to raise the issue.
Redress Request #2) - October 2019
Before formalizing the third hiring, I emailed HR asking for clarification and redress:
Question 1 proves I did not receive full benefits under classification #3. My PTO accrual rate was less.
Question 2 is requesting clarity on which of my three hiring dates would be used for pro-rating my participation in TYT’s “Incentive Compensation Plan.”
It seemed reasonable that since I’d been working full-time since October 2018 it would be justifiable to allow me bonus participation for the entirety of 2019.
— Clarification (underlined red): June 11th, 2019 is inaccurate. Per the invitation email, that should be May 28, 2019. There is some gray area to shifting from one classification to another and I’m not sure where I got June 11th from but I do recall writing this email with some haste.
Question 3 shows I expressed dissatisfaction with being unpaid for time off and requested that TYT make right on the unpaid wages.
— Clarification (underlined red): “4 days total” — While accurate, 4 days were off that week (Labor Day + 3 vacation days), I failed to include the 2 vacation Days (8/29, 8/30) I had taken off the prior week, which fits into the prior pay period. The total unpaid vacation days is 11. (6 in May + 5 in Aug/Sep).
Their response:
1 - My schedule was not Tuesday - Friday. See the hours worked sheet above to see the next six weeks were each 5 day weeks.
2 - TYT declined to include my full year of full-time work in awarding me bonus, opting to use the 3rd hiring date of October 14, 2019.
3 - “We will not backdate pay or benefits.” This was their second opportunity to correct what we could have called a mistake. TYT denied me backdated pay and benefits because they considered my role temporary and were unsure if my job was needed.
Smaller Items Worth Noting
In the interests of full disclosure and thoroughness, here are some small items.
401K Deductions
Upon becoming a W2 employee, I was auto-enrolled in a 401K program that deducted money from my paycheck. The eventual total was $149.64.
Please note the employer’s contribution total was $0.00.
I eventually cashed it out after realizing the account still existed and was being charged a monthly fee. I think I got 80 bucks or something.
Sick Accrual
In examining my records, I noticed a sick accrual that totaled 32.65
The top snippet is end-dated Oct 24 and the bottom is Nov 7.
The total accrual amounted to $706.22. (32.65*21.63)
It was zeroed out upon on the third classification (red circle) switch when I was allowed to receive nearly bull benefits, including TYT’s unlimited PTO policy.
Part-Time Editor
I screenshotted a Gusto ‘Employment summary’ showing my job title was ‘Part-Time Editor.’
Bonus Payment
I did receive a ‘2019 incentive bonus’ of $655.00.
The starting date for this bonus, as confirmed in the email exchange, is Oct 14 2019. This means I received 79 days worth of bonus for 2019. Using this figure, extrapolating the rest of year’s bonus comes out to:
365 minus 79 equals 286 Days
286 Days / 365 Days = 78.36%
79 Days / 365 Days = 21.64%
To calculate a figure of a full-year’s bonus, 365 days:
(655*365)/79 = $3,026.27
$3,026.27 minus 655.00 equals $2,371.27
$2,371.27 is the amount I would have received in addition to the $655.00 had my full-year of work been included in the bonus compensation rather than only 79 days.
EMAIL PROOF THE UNION DRIVE STARTED BEFORE CENK CLAIMED
I intentionally revived the union drive in spring of 2019 because of my working conditions as it was my belief I deserved the same benefits as others doing the same job.
The first attempt to unionize was a year prior in 2018 (due to a different set of working conditions) but was put on ice after a round of firings.
Here’s an article about those layoffs: Young Turks Network Sheds Senior Employees in Staff Shakeup in The Wrap dated June 14 2018 by Jon Levine.
Emails supporting this claim were shared with Alex Thompson for the Apr 10, 2019 Politico piece.
Emails viewed by POLITICO, however, show that conversations between the staffers and IATSE date back to April of 2018, and they began scheduling a meeting with the union on Nov. 5, 2019, more than a week before Uygur declared his candidacy.
You can also see in 2019 we scheduled our first meeting with IATSE before Cenk filed his campaign papers on Nov 13, 2019.
This contrasts with The Young Turks’ narrative that unionizing was a response to Cenk Uygur running for Congress.
According to their version, union-organizing began after Nov 13, 2019 and was initiated by outside parties.
I myself do not have the emails shown to Alex Thompson but if we’re to believe Cenk Uygur’s version of the story, the workers fabricated those emails to deceive Alex and every worker interviewed, including myself, lied to the journalists we talked to for the four articles.
Cenk is welcome to produce evidence that his workers fabricated emails or that any of us were dishonest.
If TYT’s version is correct, they should be able to prove it.
CONCLUSION
I maintain that at no point was I an “independent contractor,” nor a “part-time” worker. I was every bit a part of the team as other editors. There were many other reasons for the organizing but a core driver of it was so that I would receive the same benefits as others doing the same work. My co-workers were bothered that one of their own was under such stress and as a group we were motivated to do something about it. This is what they call solidarity.
I’ll summarize my claim here and I’m inviting you to assess my honesty on the matter of why a union formed at TYT:
In exchange for full-time video editing at the video production company for which I worked, I believed I deserved healthcare, paid time off and other benefits on par with those who did the same job. I also believed I did not deserve to feel such stress and disrespect, wanting only to do a good job at my profession. Asking my boss to correct the situation was fruitless. Collective bargaining was the only tool available to correct what felt like a deeply unethical, ongoing injustice.
~~~We now have two versions of the story to reconcile~~~
One Of These Is Not True
My version: Workers unionized because of unsatisfactory and exploitative working conditions.
vs
TYT’s Version: Workers were manipulated into unionizing by Cenk Uygur’s political opponents as a ploy to harm his 2019-2020 Congressional campaign for CA-25 special election to replace Katie Hill against establishment favorite Christy Smith.
Which version of the story do you think is true?
I hope this information is helpful and I’m thankful for your interest.
FOR MORE & HOW TO HELP
For more, check out my youtube channel and podcast and please consider supporting the project by helping spread the word and/or a financial contribution. It’s been years of work, has taken a toll and putting this out into the world renders my employment prospects dimmer than they already were. I won’t be able to finish the film without encouragement and support. I need your help.
Help me tell the story.