(NEW YORK CITY) - More than 100 Union-represented New York Times Employees walked out of the newspaper's Midtown Headquarters this week to rally for a new contract, almost three months after their last one expired. 

The Staff are members of the Times Guild, the largest Bargaining Unit of the NewsGuild of New York, that represents more than 1,500 Editorial, Advertising and Support Staff at The Gray Lady.

The Guild has been bargaining for a new contract since January with five core priorities: Raises to keep up with rising cost of living; Affordable health care; Guaranteed hybrid work; Artificial Intelligence (AI) guardrails; and Expansion of the Guild across the newspaper.

Near-weekly bargaining has yielded little progress, Raoul Anchondo - a Times Staff Editor and Member of the Guild’s Bargaining Committee, told The Chief: “This was an attempt to send a clear message to management that their current approach to bargaining is unacceptable and that we need to see real movement around all of our core priorities and expect a fair contract.” 

This was the third action taken by the Guild this week, following a mass e-mail to the administration by more than 500 Staff Members and a silent protest at the recent all-hands meeting while CEO Meredith Kopit Levien spoke. 

The Guild is also seeking pay increases that both keep up with inflation and reflect Staff contributions to a company that saw more than $431 million in profits last year, according to public filings.

The company’s proposed 3% annual salary increase doesn’t meet the Union's needs, Anchondo said, pointing to factors like housing inflation, which rose 4.4% last year. 

“Essentially, if we accepted the current proposal we’d be taking a pay cut,” he said. 

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