New York Times Journalists Embark On Strike Over Wages

Hundreds of journalists and other employees at The New York Times have begun a strike over the demand for better salaries and improved health insurance funding.

In a statement on Wednesday, The NewsGuild of New York, a union of media workers, said the action followed the company’s refusal to reach a contract agreed with the workers.

Over 400 New York Times tech members have also sent a petition to management announcing their intent to walk out for one hour because of “similar struggles that they’ve faced at the bargaining table”.

“Today’s bargaining was a planned session; the company has otherwise refused to enter into additional marathon bargaining, which the members requested in their letter to CEO Meredith Kopit Levien and Publisher A.G. Sulzberger as a way to reach a decision on a contract before their planned one-day walkout on Thursday, December 8,” the statement reads.

Susan DeCarava, president, NewsGuild of New York, said the strike, which is the first in 40 years, is to ensure that the company rewards those behind its success.

“The New York Times, which has not seen a work stoppage of this scale since the ’70s, is on notice. Our members understand the value of their labor, and it’s time for Times management to demonstrate the same,” DeCarava said.

“Guild members at The New York Times are determined to ensure that, through collective action, the company lives up to its mission when it comes to all the workers responsible for its meteoric success during the past several years.”

Speaking on the matter in a statement, workers at the New York Times described the decision as a difficult one and asked readers to boycott the paper for a day in solidarity.

(Reuters)