NEW YORK (The Guardian) - A large crowd filled with hundreds of journalists and media professionals, many dressed in red, gathered outside the New York Times headquarters on Thursday afternoon, as part of an employee walkout that demanded a higher living wage.
It’s something that hasn’t happened at the famous newspaper in four decades: a union strike that stopped the reporting process and shut down the newsroom.
The strike comes amid frustrations that bargaining has dragged on since the contract of employees in the NewsGuild union expired in March 2021. Last week, the union announced that over 1,100 employees would stage a 24-hour work stoppage starting just after midnight on Thursday until management struck a deal on the employees’ contracts.
Outside the HQ, which is near Times Square in Manhattan, picket signs that read “New York Times Walks Out” flooded the street. Supporters of the union members refused to cross the digital picket line and were also opting out of reading its content or playing Wordle for the day.
Reporters from other news outlets covered the event. Commercial trucks slowed down to honk, with some drivers raising a fist out of the window and nodding in solidarity of the union members on strike. Tourists stopped to look on at the unusual scene of journalists banging on drums and chanting in unison: “We got the power … union power”.
Members of the larger parent union, Communications Workers of America (CWA), also showed up in support of the strikers.
“Our job is to cover the story. Today, I’m stepping back from my keyboard, because I feel that in order to build a New York Times that can serve our readers best in the future, we need a better deal with the people who are here,” Confessore said.
The negotiations have dragged on for 20 months after their last contract expired in March 2021.