Press

NEW YORK – The unionized workers of New York Magazine, represented by The NewsGuild of New York, have informed management that they are prepared to walk off the job unless they get a fair contract, including strong AI protections.

NEW YORK –  Editorial staff at The Athletic announced Monday that they have organized with The NewsGuild of New York and are asking The New York Times to recognize them as part of the newsroom union, The Times Guild.

NEW YORK –  Unionized journalists at Lifehacker, Mashable, and PCMag are prepared to walk out for the duration of Amazon’s July Prime Day Event, July 16 and 17, unless parent company Ziff Davis agrees to a fair contract.

On Thursday, we learned that TIME has entered into a multiyear licensing and “strategic” partnership with OpenAI. TIME management also confirmed a previously announced deal with Fox Verify.

When Daily Beast management – led by our new corporate partners Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles – informed us several weeks ago they were looking to slash staff in our newsroom, our bargaining team went right to work.

We successfully negotiated a robust buyout plan for our members, giving them the chance to decide for themselves if they wanted to leave the company. Twenty-five unit members, or roughly 70 percent of our unit, applied for the buyout. Our members now have a seven-day window to accept the buyout or rescind their application, which will mean the total number of members who choose to leave could change.

We have also won job security for unit members who choose to stay with the Company. Because we expect to exceed $1.5 million in payroll savings through the buyouts, unit members will be protected from any layoffs through Dec. 31, 2024.

We have also struck a tentative two-year collective bargaining agreement with the Company that benefits all of our members, whether they are choosing to take a buyout or staying. We have achieved retroactive pay increases from January 1 for all members. For members who are staying, the contract lifts wages for the lowest earners by at least 4% in 2024 (4.5% in 2025); mid-range earners by 2.5% in 2024 and 3% in 2025; higher-paid earners by 1% in 2024 and 1.5% in 2025; and top-paid workers by .5% in both years.

We have been in the driver's seat of this process since Sherwood and Coles arrived at the Beast. We have battled with Company lawyers, demanded information in the face of uncertainty, and have won the fight for our colleagues to design their own futures. The security and dignity we’ve afforded our colleagues affirms that our work is valuable and empowering. No matter how many members accept the buyout, our work as a Union will continue. Managers come and go, but we, the Daily Beast Union, are here to stay.

In light of recent developments within The Daily Beast, we have negotiated a robust buyout plan for our members, which will allow them to decide for themselves if they wish to leave the company on their own terms.

From Poynter:  Workers at the three New York Times unions — the Times Guild, Times Tech Guild, and Wirecutter Union — rallied outside the Times building Tuesday in protest of what they say are anti-union tactics by company management.

From the NYTimes:  Union members at Wirecutter, a product review website owned by The New York Times Company, said on Monday that they were prepared to stop work during the busy shopping period around Black Friday if a deal for a contract was not reached.