Hundreds of employees at The New York Times are threatening to walk off the job if their contract demands are not met.
In a tweet on Friday, The New York Times Guild wrote, “After 20 months of negotiations, enough is enough: Today, more than 1,000 [Guild] members pledged to walk out if [the Times] does not agree to a complete and fair contract by Dec. 8.”
“We want our pension intact. We want our health care funded. We want raises that reflect our contribution to the company’s success, but the [Times] has given us lunch boxes and excuses about economic uncertainty,” it continued.
After 20 months of negotiations, enough is enough: Today, more than 1,000 @NYTimesGuild members pledged to walk out if @nytimes does not agree to a complete and fair contract by Dec. 8.
— NYTimesGuild (@NYTimesGuild) December 2, 2022
In a separate tweet, the Guild took issue with the company spending “millions of dollars” to buy Wordle and The Athletic.
Additionally, it noted the Times “allocated $150 million in stock buybacks to its investors.”
Axios points out the Times is “doing better financially than it has in many years and it continues to increase dividend payouts to shareholders.”
“And yet it is still offering wage ‘increases’ that amount to pay cuts during record-high inflation,” the Guild added.
Finally, the Guild wrote, “A company on track for an annual operating profit of $320 million or more should be paying its employees a minimum of $65,000 a year. The [Times] thinks this is unreasonable. The [Guild] does not.”
This walkout pledge was not a decision we made lightly. But the truth is @nytimes is a blank page without @NYTGuild members. It's time they gave us a contract that reflects our true worth. pic.twitter.com/MTMdockEKK
— NYTimesGuild (@NYTimesGuild) December 2, 2022
It continued, “This walkout pledge was not a decision we made lightly. But the truth is [the Times] is a blank page without [Guild] members.”
“It’s time they gave us a contract that reflects our true worth,” it added.
The guild claims to represent 1,300 “media workers” at the Times.