Wirecutter employees are asking us to boycott the site this Black Friday weekend to resist the temptation of their own excellent deals. The New York Times management has been accused of foot-dragging on contract negotiations by the Wirecutter union, which has decided to walk out from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. The Times-owned product review vertical founded a union in February of this year, but still hasn't reached a collective bargaining agreement.
The Times Guild and Times Tech Guild are both represented by the NewsGuild, and they protested outside the New York Times offices. The NewsGuild filed an unfair labor practice charge against the New York Times in June of 2021, accusing it of orchestrating a union busting campaign that prevented 650 non-unionized tech workers from showing union support.
The union wants a minimum salary of $58,000 and a three-percent annual pay raise. The Times recently raised its annual pay raise offer to 1 percent with options for merit-based raises, according to the Wirecutter union chair. The union offered the Times management nine bargaining dates before Black Friday, after the walk-out preparations were announced a little over two weeks ago. Guy said all were declined.
Guy said that the median salary of the Wirecutter union is $43,000 less than that of the Times Guild.
Guy said that they have been told at least once that they don't do New York Times work. We know that we do and that is something that is stuck with us. New York Times-quality work is what Wirecutter was purchased by. We know that our work appears in print and on NYTimes.com, but we don't know how often.
Guy said the union isn't asking to match newsroom salaries. Their pay is more representative of the value that they bring to the Times.
The New York Times is in talks with the Wirecutter Union to reach a collective bargaining agreement that will reward employees for their work and contributions to The Times. The Times management offered Wirecutter dates in December but did not address questions about Wirecutter's offers to bargain before Black Friday or the large salary disparity.
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