Unions For Thee But Not For We: Leftist ‘Young Turks’ Fights Unionization

Unions For Thee But Not For We: Leftist ‘Young Turks’ Fights Unionization

In a classic case of liberal hypocrisy, the progressive YouTube program “The Young Turks” is in turmoil because management is opposing efforts by employees to unionize.

Cenk Uygur, one of the founding hosts, who is also running for the congressional seat recently vacated by Katie Hill in California, is leading the charge against the union.

Dave Jamieson reports at the Huffington Post:

The Young Turks’ Progressive Founder Urged His Staff Not To Unionize

Top leadership at the progressive news network The Young Turks held an all-staff meeting at its office in Culver City, California, on Feb. 12. The regularly scheduled gathering was supposed to deal with personnel matters, but instead the focus turned to the staff’s nascent union campaign, which had just gone public.

Earlier that day, a Twitter handle claiming to represent TYT employees had announced on the social media platform their intention to form a union. In the staff meeting, the network’s co-founder and influential host, Cenk Uygur, urged employees not to do so, arguing that a union does not belong at a small, independent outlet like TYT, according to two workers who were present. He said if there had been a union at the network it would not have grown the way it has.

His talk ― at times emotional, the staffers said, with Uygur throwing his papers to the ground at one point, and chastising an employee ― seemed to contradict the progressive, worker-first ethos that TYT broadcasts to its millions of lefty followers.

Uygur is an outspoken supporter of Bernie Sanders, and as Alex Griswold notes at the Washington Free Beacon, opposing unionization is frowned upon in Bernie World:

Left-Wing Young Turks Refuses to Recognize Employees’ Union

The Young Turks, a left-wing and pro-Bernie Sanders YouTube network, is refusing to recognize its employees’ new labor union.

A week after TYT Union was formed to represent production and post-production workers at the popular liberal channel, the group announced that company leadership had refused voluntary recognition of the union. The refusal, which comes after Sanders proposed penalizing companies that refuse to recognize unions, is the latest instance of a left-leaning news outlet resisting unionization among its employees.

“This is a disappointing decision from an organization that presents itself as progressive,” the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the parent organization of TYT Union, tweeted. “Join us in telling [The Young Turks] to respect their so-called principles and respect their workers!”

The TYT Union also tweeted this:

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

— TYTUnion (@TYTUnion) February 21, 2020

Uygur has even been called out by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

This is union-busting, plain and simple. I call on @CenkUygur and @TheYoungTurks to follow their principles and voluntarily recognize the card authorization vote of @TYTunion. https://t.co/J561GTptff

— Richard Trumka (@RichardTrumka) February 24, 2020

This is not only hypocritical, but suggests very poor judgement on Uygur’s part. Then again, what should we expect from someone who named his show after the Turkish political faction largely responsible for the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century?

Featured image via YouTube.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.