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The New York Times Guild, the union representing more than 1,300 New York Times workers, has announced that the majority of its members will stage a 24-hour walkout if the company doesn't agree to a complete and fair contract by December 8.
The Guild made the announcement on Twitter on the morning of December 2, saying that "after 20 months of negotiations, enough is enough."
Attached to the tweet is a letter written by Unit Chair of the Guild Bill Baker, addressed to the Times publisher AG Sulzberger and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien.
"We know what our labor is worth," Baker writes. "To demonstrate it, more than 1,000 of us have joined together in a pledge: We will walk out and stop work for 24 hours on Thursday, December 8, if we do not have a deal for a complete and equitable contract by then."
Accompanying the letter was a written pledge, "signed by 1,036 members of the New York Times Guild," outlining their demands.
While it would seem that trying to negotiate salary increases amid a slew of big-tech and media layoffs is a bold move, Baker claims that the company has no shortage of funds to meet their terms.
"We have been lectured about the dire economic future the company faces – even as the company tells Wall Street about a successful corporation that can afford to pay millions in salaries and benefits to its top executives," he writes, stating that the company is on track for an "annual operating budget of $300 million" so that fact that it isn't willing to offer a reasonable guaranteed base-pay raise is "unacceptable."
"We want our pension intact. We want our health care funded. We want raises that reflect our contribution to the company's success," the Times Guild says, saying all they've been given is "excuses about economic uncertainty in 2022."
"Even as the company's business booms and executives' pay soars, we have seen next to no financial benefit from our vital contributions to this success."
Regardless of what financial state the Times is currently in, the incoming year will no doubt bring some level of hardship to everyone in the media as the economy attempts to hold off a recession. CNN layoffs, Amazon layoffs, and a Disney hiring freeze are just a few of the "tough decisions" that companies have had to make in the last month.
The Guild made the announcement on Twitter on the morning of December 2, saying that "after 20 months of negotiations, enough is enough."
Attached to the tweet is a letter written by Unit Chair of the Guild Bill Baker, addressed to the Times publisher AG Sulzberger and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien.
"We know what our labor is worth," Baker writes. "To demonstrate it, more than 1,000 of us have joined together in a pledge: We will walk out and stop work for 24 hours on Thursday, December 8, if we do not have a deal for a complete and equitable contract by then."
Accompanying the letter was a written pledge, "signed by 1,036 members of the New York Times Guild," outlining their demands.
While it would seem that trying to negotiate salary increases amid a slew of big-tech and media layoffs is a bold move, Baker claims that the company has no shortage of funds to meet their terms.
"We have been lectured about the dire economic future the company faces – even as the company tells Wall Street about a successful corporation that can afford to pay millions in salaries and benefits to its top executives," he writes, stating that the company is on track for an "annual operating budget of $300 million" so that fact that it isn't willing to offer a reasonable guaranteed base-pay raise is "unacceptable."
"We want our pension intact. We want our health care funded. We want raises that reflect our contribution to the company's success," the Times Guild says, saying all they've been given is "excuses about economic uncertainty in 2022."
"Even as the company's business booms and executives' pay soars, we have seen next to no financial benefit from our vital contributions to this success."
Regardless of what financial state the Times is currently in, the incoming year will no doubt bring some level of hardship to everyone in the media as the economy attempts to hold off a recession. CNN layoffs, Amazon layoffs, and a Disney hiring freeze are just a few of the "tough decisions" that companies have had to make in the last month.
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