New York Times Employees Walk Out after Contract Negotiations Stall

Hundreds of New York Times staff members went on strike on Thursday at midnight after bargaining over enhanced benefits stalled.

“Today we were ready to work for as long as it took to reach a fair deal, but management walked away from the table with five hours to go,” the NYT Guild tweeted Wednesday night. “It’s official: @NYTimesGuild members are walking out for 24 hours on Thursday. We know what we’re worth.”

The union updated that the parties engaged in 12 hours of negotiations, with the journalists convincing management to preserve pensions among its long list of demands. However, by Wednesday the company was making little headway on improving salaries, raising the minimum pay bar for new employees, and contributing more money to cover health insurance. After the Times allegedly “walked away from the table with five hours to go,” the union, deciding that the progress was insufficient, went on strike.

The New York Times said negotiations were interrupted by the strike announcement.

“It is disappointing that they are taking such an extreme action when we are not at an impasse,” Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha told the New York Post.

Last week, the union threatened that 1,000 employees would suspend work if the publication did not agree to their proposed contract by the following week. It blasted company expenditures it believed to be irresponsible and wasteful, such as the allocation of $150 million in stock buybacks to investors, while it argued pay increases for staff were not keeping pace with inflation.

The Times agreed to raise wages by 5.5 percent if the contract were adopted, Deputy Managing Editor Cliff Levy told the Post, but the union is holding out for 10 percent raises to compensate for inflation and the lack of pay increases over the last two years.

“Their wage proposal still fails to meet the economic moment, lagging far behind both inflation and the average rate of wage gains in the US,” the union said.

The guild has also asked for a flexible remote work arrangement that would loosen the current requirement to work in the office three days a week.

Some Democratic political figures stepped in to show solidarity for the union. New York representative Jamaal Bowman told followers on Twitter to boycott the Times products online or in print for as long as the strike lasts.

“Do not engage with any of the New York Times platforms. DO NOT CROSS THE DIGITAL PICKET LINE. Get your news from other sources and tell your friends to do the same,” he said.

The union mocked the Times by adapting the newspaper’s signature crossword puzzle and probability barometer to declare its walkout.

Striking journalists will protest outside the Times‘ headquarters in Midtown, Manhattan Thursday afternoon, burdening their non-union colleagues with keeping the paper up and running for the day.