This reporting appears as one of several scoops featured in this week’s edition of Confider, the newsletter pulling back the curtain on the media. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.
New York Times journalists are now seriously discussing a mass walkout if their long-delayed contract is not inked by year’s end, Confider has learned.
The dramatic escalation comes after months of drawn-out negotiations have stalled, leaving employees pissed that they have not seen a pay raise since March 2020. The company has offered staffers a 2.7-percent per year average raise while the NewsGuild is holding firm at 6 percent over the span of the contract.
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“Given the high rates of inflation and the company's fantastic financial health we think this is an insulting and unacceptable offer,” Times business reporter and bargaining committee member Stacy Cowley told Confider.
Staffers told Confider that they have been further angered that the company is parrying wage increases with proposed cuts in its contributions to their retirement and health-care funds.
Times staff are now weighing their options amid increasingly hostile talks, including the very likely possibility of a walkout that could cripple production of the Gray Lady.
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“We are really committed to the news report, and it would be a pretty tough decision to stand in the way of something we believe in so firmly,” one senior Times journalist told Confider. “It’s not like walking out of JP Morgan or Burger King. It would hurt us to hurt the Times.”
In response, a Times spokesperson emailed: “We’re eager to reach a collective bargaining agreement that financially rewards our journalists for their contributions to the success of The Times. We are proud of our comprehensive package of pay and benefits, which is among the best in the industry and we intend to make sure it remains that way.”
The paper insisted its current wage offer “represents a meaningful increase over past contracts” and touted its “highly unusual step” of giving union staffers new benefits like increased bereavement time, parental leave, and extra company holidays before a contract was even reached.
“While we know that wages are the focus, a collective bargaining agreement cannot be finalized until we have tentative agreements on all aspects of the contract.”
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