Leading off today's news is a big one in the journalist space: The New York Times Guild has, after two years, finally won a tentative agreement with The New York Times. The battle between Times management and the union has been one of the longest running disputes in journalism—when the Guild's last contract expired, it was March of 2021 and the world was very different.
Throughout the two years without a contract the Guild repeatedly pushed back against Times management trying to delay or obstruct negotiations. When management demanded employees return to work in September 2022, the Guild filed an unfair labor practice and hundreds of the Guild's members pledged to stay home. In December, the Guild staged a one-day walkout which was the first work stoppage in recent memory at the paper. In March and April members of the union also staged a march in the newsroom and a march on management during a shareholder meeting.
All of that has paid off pretty well. In this tentative agreement Guild members have won a salary floor of $65,000 and minimum raises of 10.6% effective at ratification; subsequently in 2024 and 2025, all members will receive a 3.25% and 3% increase on their salaries respectively. Members will also receive back pay of 7% of their base earnings from March 31, 2021 onward.
Elsewhere in the agreement, the Guild has won preservation of remote work: until September 3, 2024 employees who are not already full-time remote workers and whose work does not require physical presence are eligible for two days of remote work a week. After September 3, they will remain eligible for at least one day of remote work a week. A provision makes workers eligible, with managerial approval, to work fully remotely for three weeks a year (in increments of one week). Most Guild members are also eligible for a permanent remote work arrangement.
The Guild also won a "ban on nondisclosure agreements in the settlement of claims of harassment and/or discrimination against a Guild member" and the preservation of their pension plan, which Times management wanted to kill. Bereavement leave is now 10 days for Guild members (4 for a non-immediate family member) and Guild members now get 20 weeks of paid parental leave and three new paid holidays (Juneteenth, Indigenous Peoples' Day and Veterans Day).
Congratulations!