Editor of socialist magazine 'Current Affairs' fires staff 'for trying to start a worker co-op'

Five former staff members of the socialist magazine Current Affairs say that they were fired for trying to organize a workers co-op. On Wednesday they shared in an open letter that they had been fired for "organizing for better work conditions."

Nathan J. Robinson, a socialist commentator who founded the magazine in 2015, allegedly was not happy with the organizational restructuring that was happening and felt that his powers were being limited, the Daily Wire reported.

Robinson, author of the 2019 book Why You Should be a Socialist said in a tweet that he was looking to interview current Democratic Socialists of America members for research that he was doing on how socialists organize.

The former staff members wrote: "Dear comrades, We, the former full and part-time staff, write to you with deep sadness and disappointment about recent events that have occurred at Current Affairs. On August 8th, editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson (author of Why You Should Be A Socialist) unilaterally fired most of the workforce to avoid an organizational restructuring that would limit his personal power. Yes, we were fired by the editor-in-chief of a socialist magazine for trying to start a worker co-op."

They said that Robinson's organizational model for the magazine was an egalitarian one where everyone's voice mattered, but when it came to discussing organizational structure via Zoom on August 7, his demeanor changed and he became hostile.

On August 8, "he started removing people from the company Slack, and sent letters requesting resignations, eliminating positions, and in some cases offering new 'honorary titles' which would have no say in governance."

Robinson then sent follow-up emails to the former staff members saying: "This organization has been heading slowly for some sort of reckoning where it was going to have to be made clear once and for all what kind of authority I wanted to have over it. And I was in denial about the fact that the answer is I think I should be on top of the org chart, with everyone else selected by me and reporting to me. I let Current Affairs build up into a sort of egalitarian community of friends while knowing in my heart that I still thought of it as my project over which I should have control."

Robinson took to Facebook ten days later to address the firing of the five employees and the subsequent publicity it has received. In his statement, Robinson said that since the founding of Current Affairs, he has not wanted it to be owned by himself or staff, but to "operate as a not for profit institution that does not belong to particular people." But he also said that he felt that the magazine had become "disorganized" and "structureless."

Robinson went on to say that "it's easy to talk about a belief in power sharing but when it comes down to actually sharing power over this thing I have poured my heart and soul into, it felt very very difficult to do." The five employees have not given any indication on whether they will be taking further action regarding their firing.