Press

NEW YORK – They built their careers at New York’s Hometown Paper, the Daily News. 

Now, 130 former Daily News journalists have signed onto a petition, calling for management at the Daily News and execs at predatory hedge fund owner Alden Global Capital to recognize the current staff’s value and agree to a fair contract. 

NEW YORK – Unionized journalists at two Gannett newspapers in New York have ratified a two-year collective bargaining agreement that will correct long-standing wage stagnation, set salary minimums for the first time and improve time off and job security. 

The Times Guild is troubled by the decision of New York Times management to terminate the employment of Lauren Wolfe, which was done outside of the just cause protections of our contract due to her classification as a casual employee.

Today’s actions on Capitol Hill will be discussed and documented for years to come, reinforcing the need for rapid and accurate journalism. This pivotal moment in our nation’s history is a harrowing public culmination of years of racist, sexist and reckless rhetoric that divides our nation and weakens our democracy. It is in these moments of crisis we see with absolute clarity the need for a free and protected press.

We, the staff of The Markup, are happy to announce that we have unionized with The NewsGuild of New York. Management responded to our request for voluntary recognition with an immediate and decisive yes, and full support for our union.

Today The New Yorker Union announced a digital picket on the evening Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Elizabeth Warren were set to speak at The New Yorker Festival. Both congresswomen have agreed to decline their invitations to the festival in support of the union's fight for crucial Just Cause protections. The members of the editorial unions from Ars Technica, BuzzFeed News, New York Magazine, Pitchfork, Quartz, Wirecutter, and Ziff Davis stand in solidarity with the congresswomen and with the New Yorker Union.

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.

From the NYTimes:  More than 100 New York Times workers and their supporters protested outside The Times’s Manhattan headquarters on Tuesday, accusing the company of delaying contract talks.