NYT’s Wirecutter union threatens to walk during its busiest time of year if a new contract isn’t signed

Wirecutter’s union is fed up.

After nearly two years of contract negotiations with management at the product review and recommendation site, and its parent The New York Times Company, Wirecutter’s union of 67 members threatened earlier this week to walk out — virtually — on the site’s biggest time of year: Black Friday.

“We didn’t think we would have to do this because we thought we’d be done before this happened,” said Sarah Kobos, senior photo editor at Wirecutter and interim vice-chair on the bargaining committee at Wirecutter Union, an affiliate of the NewsGuild of New York. “It seems like action is the only way to get them at the table, in a timely manner.”

The union chose to act now, growing concerned that a contract would not be signed by the end of this year. The three unions that represent Wirecutter, The New York Times, and tech workers at the Times are also planning to hold a rally outside of the Times’ headquarters on Nov. 16 at 12 pm E.T., Kobos said. The New York Times Guild is also currently collective bargaining with management over its contract, and the Times Tech Guild has yet to be voluntarily recognized by the company.

According to Kobos, there is only one bargaining session scheduled between Wirecutter Union and management for the rest of the year on Nov. 17. Of the 67 total union members — who are editorial non-management workers — 61 agreed to strike as of Monday evening unless management agrees to a “fair contract.” Wirecutter’s employees work remotely, so it would be a digital walkout where members refuse to work.

“We look forward to continuing to work towards an agreement with the Wirecutter Union in our standard process at the negotiating table,” said Danielle Rhoades Ha, vp, communications at The New York Times Company.

Wirecutter Union also urged its readers not to shop via Wirecutter from Black Friday through Cyber Monday if a deal with management is not reached. The union created a pledge that readers can sign to say they will “not cross the picket line.” Kobos declined to say how many had already signed.

The union is using the shopping holiday as leverage, Kobos said. The time between Black Friday and Cyber Monday represents Wirecutter’s “biggest traffic days,” Kobos said. Last year, the site had more than 1 million readers on each of the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, she said. Black Friday is two and a half weeks out, which is “enough time to work together and do some marathon bargaining and reach an agreement,” Kobos said. “I hope that happens. I’m pretty optimistic that it will. It’s not just a very important time for us, but our busiest and most profitable time of the year for us by far.”

Purchased by The New York Times Company in 2016, Wirecutter makes revenue via affiliate sales and subscriptions. Wirecutter launched a paywall in September. According to the Times’ third-quarter earnings …read more

Source:: Digiday