The Arena Group recently laid off a significant number of employees at Sports Illustrated. The NewsGuild of New York and Sports Illustrated Union have taken legal action against the company, accusing them of terminating employees due to their union support, involvement in union activities, and other protected activities. The NewsGuild of New York’s president, Susan DeCarava, stated that they believe The Arena Group is using the dispute over the SI license as a pretext to undermine the union and unlawfully target its members. They have filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board and are exploring other options for their membership.
According to the press release, Ross Levinsohn has resigned from The Arena Group’s board due to the layoffs and union-busting tactics. The release also highlights that all members of the SI union were informed of their impending layoffs because of the revocation of The Arena Group’s license to publish Sports Illustrated content, while supervisors and managers at the publication have not been affected. Despite the reported layoffs, new content is still being published at SI.com. This suggests that the digital operation is still functioning, even though the recent events led to assumptions about its demise. This situation could have been a strategy to remove unionized employees, but it has also cast doubt on the future of Sports Illustrated.
