FiscalNote hit with unfair labor charge by CQ Roll Call over return-to-office mandate

Unionized workers at CQ Roll Call have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) over its parent company’s latest return-to-office policy.

Workers say the mandate to work from either the trade publication’s downtown DC office or Capitol Hill two days a week, announced internally on Halloween and set to take effect in January, amounts to an unfair labor practice and is illegal because it didn’t take union members’ input into account. The in-person requirement will extend to three days a week in March, according to an email viewed by Technical.ly. 

The 53-member CQ Roll Call Guild is currently negotiating its first-ever contract with management at the Capitol Hill-focused news site, which is owned by DC-based policy and regulatory intelligence software firm FiscalNote. 

Reporters said staff didn’t have a formal location-based work policy before the COVID pandemic, other than an expectation to be on Capitol Hill during congressional sessions. 

While the new policy would not materially affect Roll Call employees’ typical practices, the guild said in a Thursday letter announcing the NLRB action, it breaks the law and undermines workers’ say in how they operate. 

“Many of us already work from the Hill on a regular basis and we believe it is unnecessary to put in to our contract language that does not allow for flexibility, particularly during recess periods,” the announcement said. “We know where we need to be on any given day to perform our jobs well — just as we have been doing for years.” 

The union also alleges the mandate goes against legal requirements for employers to “maintain the existing working conditions” and negotiate any changes to them with the guild.

“Simply put, FiscalNote’s insistence on holding CQ Roll Call Guild members to this inflexible policy would violate the law,” the statement read. 

FiscalNote did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Remote work has recently become a flashpoint in cities around the nation as government and corporate leaders push to end the hybrid arrangements that became the norm as the pandemic subsided. 

President-elect Donald Trump recently stated that federal workers who don’t return to their offices risked losing their jobs, while DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has said that federal employees not working in offices hurts the district’s economy. Amazon, which maintains its HQ2 in nearby Arlington, tried to impose strict return-to-office policies, only to delay them over a lack of available space.

For tech companies like FiscalNote, some experts say return-to-office mandates prompt an exodus of talent that is hard to replace. 

The NLRB filing also comes soon after FiscalNote faced possible delisting from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The company’s share value needed to increase to maintain the company’s place — which it did a few days after the NYSE’s notice. 

FiscalNote’s longtime CEO Tim Hwang is set to leave that position at the end of 2024, with COO Josh Resnik replacing him, according to the Washington Business Journal.  

Regardless of the leadership, the guild said that it wants FiscalNote to agree on this and other proposals. It alleged that management refused to meet with the bargaining committee for more than the two-hour monthly sessions it currently has. 

“FiscalNote likes to frequently remind employees that a key company value is “support the family,” the guild statement said. “They can start by changing course on this policy.”