Tuesday night, after protracted negotiations and public disputes, the bitter labor fight within The New York Times came to an end: The staff union, which represents more than 1,400 employees, and the company agreed to a tentative contract. Since the Times Guild’s last contract expired in March 2021, but particularly over the past year, outrage has spilled out into public view, with journalists appealing to senior leaders to get more involved back in September and more than 1,100 staffers walking off the job a few months later, a historic act of protest not seen at the paper in more than 40 years.
Strike chatter was reaching a fever pitch, as were divisions within the newsroom. Now the Guild Slack was full of celebratory messages and solidarity emojis. What changed?
I’m told that a major breakthrough was a tiered wage proposal floated by the Guild in March. As negotiations dragged on, the Guild—which, before the tiered proposal, was proposing across-the-board raises—decided to take the idea more seriously. Under the new proposal, members earning less than $100,000 will receive raises of 12.5%; members earning $100,000 to $119,999 will receive raises of 11.6%; members earning $120,000 to $159,999 will receive raises of 11.2%; and members earning $160,000 or more will receive raises of 10.6%.
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