Return-to-office FAQ

Updated July 12, 2024

Next week, the company rolls out its unilaterally imposed RTO mandate.  We believe management must bargain an RTO policy with us.  Until it does, we have pledged to continue to work from home.  So that’s what we are doing.

A few things to keep in mind: 

This is protected concerted activity.  We are acting as a unit, not just a disparate number of people who decided we don’t want to work in the office.  As workers, we have the right to act together for better working conditions. (Section 7, National Labor Relations Act.)

All we want to do is negotiate an RTO policy along with pay increases that work for us.

By the way, we have never said we are never, ever coming in again. We just want to negotiate an RTO policy.

What to do if your boss schedules a meeting for next Tuesday or Thursday, insists you come in for it, and refuses to offer a Zoom link:

1)Decline the invitation.

Say what you want but do include some of these basic points:

I am not involuntarily returning to the office.  My colleagues and I are doing this as a protected concerted activity.  This mandate is an unlawful violation of status quo. Changes during the status quo period must be bargained.  We want the company to negotiate a fair contract that includes a bargained RTO policy and pay increase. Meanwhile, I will continue to work productively at home and I'm always available on Zoom for meetings. 

2)Do respond in some way by next Tuesday.

Managers should know you are doing this protected concerted activity — and that you’re still working!  You didn’t go AWOL.

 3)THIS IS IMPORTANT: We need to stick together on this.

Think about it: if everyone in your work group declines an invitation for an in-person meeting with your manager, then ... there is no meeting.  Your manager is sitting alone in El Segundo and none of you are there.

We all love our jobs. That’s why we are still here on this rollercoaster called the Los Angeles Times.  We want to do great work and please our bosses and please ourselves. 

But if we want to get fair pay and conditions for this work, we have to take a stand.  That’s what we are doing. 

Background on why we are doing this — and a response to the company memo that said they are not imposing this RTO policy illegally:

When we terminated our contract, we entered a period of “status quo,” which requires the company to maintain the existing terms and conditions of our employment and bargain over any changes. The discretion that management had to change our working conditions is not in effect since the contract was terminated.  (See the NLRB’s decision in Tecnocap.)  It’s as if everything in the contract were frozen in amber.  So unilaterally imposing an RTO mandate does violate the status quo conditions.

Bottom line:

No matter what, we just want a fair contract (we’ve been at this since September 2022) that has a negotiated RTO policy and pay increases. 

And we are so proud of our unit and our determination to stand together on this!