NYT workers confirm 24-hour work stoppage to start at midnight

New York Times workers are set to walk off the job at midnight on Thursday and strike for 24 hours in the news organization’s first major work stoppage in decades after management refused worker demands and walked away from contract negotiations, according to the union.  

“Read local news. Listen to public radio. Make something from a cookbook. Break your Wordle streak,” Times employees are urging on social media as more than a thousand employees prepare for the work stoppage, the NewsGuild of New York confirmed in a statement Wednesday night. 

Over a thousand Times employees confirmed the strike and there are plans to rally with supporters outside the Times headquarters midday Thursday. The union is also asking readers not to cross the digital picket line and to refrain from engagement on any Times platform during the walkout.  

“The Times Guild bargaining committee offered to stay at the table for as long as it took to reach a deal and avert the walk-out, but management walked away from the table a little before 7 PM ET and refused to return, with five hours to go,” the union said.  

“Though members have acknowledged a slight tone shift at the bargaining table and increased urgency from company representatives, Times management would not agree on core issues.” 

According to the NewsGuild, the Times hasn’t weathered strike of this scale since a multi-day work stoppage in 1965.  

Times management allegedly refused to agree to a union-proposed salary floor of $65,000, among other issues. 

Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha told The Associated Press, though, that negotiations were still happening when management learned of the strike and called it “disappointing” that the union members “are taking such extreme action when we are not at an impasse.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.