Perhaps it isn’t so much a lack of self-awareness as it is the sense of entitlement amongst those clamoring to be a member of the progressive elite looking down on average Americans but, no matter the motivations, an ongoing protest by employees of The New York Times smacked of hypocrisy.
(Video: Fox News)
With their contract having expired in March 2021, members of the News Guild of New York Union that work for the Times have lamented the negotiations for a pay raise, and now, as employers are ramping up their transition away from remote and hybrid working models back to normal, staff have committed to something of a “sit-out” to leverage their demands.
Tuesday on Fox News’s “The Five” the panel discussed the 1,316 New York Times employees refusing to return to their offices even on a part-time basis from the News Guild, Tech Guild and Wirecutter Union.
“You know for a thousand employees writing comments basically saying inflation is killing them,” cohost Dana Perino offered, “oh, well you know you could put that on the front page.”
Tom Coffey, an editor for the Times who has spent 25 years with the company told the New York Post “People are livid.” As a member of the union’s Contract Action Committee, he expanded on the ongoing negotiations which are set to have a live-streamed public meeting Wednesday saying, “It’s not a mandatory three-day-a-week return to work, per se, but they really do ‘expect’ you to be back in the office three days a week.”
“The company negotiators are not slow-walking, they are no-walking the wage negotiations,” he decried to the Post.
“It must be hard for the New York Times to write about downplaying inflation now when their whole staff is rebelling over inflation,” Greg Gutfeld added to the discussion on Fox News.
That assertion was backed up by the echo chamber of Twitter where scores of guild members like video journalist Haley Willis sounded off on the lackluster perks that her company was offering thanking staff for returning to the office, including a lunch box.
“The [NYT] is giving employees branded lunch boxes this week as a return-to-office perk,” Willis wrote. “We want respect and a fair contract instead–so I’m working from home this week along with 1,300 of my…colleagues…”
The @nytimes is giving employees branded lunch boxes this week as a return-to-office perk. We want respect and a fair contract instead — so I’m working from home this week along with 1,300 of my @NYTimesGuild and @NYTGuildTech colleagues, with support from @WirecutterUnion.
— Haley Willis (@heytherehaley) September 12, 2022
I’m working from home this week because @nytimes management has so far not engaged with @NYTimesGuild & @NYTGuildTech to negotiate in good faith for a return to the office as the @NLRB requires. My 1,300 colleagues and I are staying home all week w/support from @wirecutterunion
— Emily Flitter (@FlitterOnFraud) September 12, 2022
I stand in solidarity with nearly 1,300 of my @NYTimesGuild union colleagues at the @nytimes who are staying home this week on the first week of RTO in quest of a fair contract. https://t.co/HxelkyVpiR
— Frances Robles (@FrancesRobles) September 12, 2022
The @nytimes wants us back in the office. We want management to bargain with us in good faith. I’m working from home this week along with 1,300 @NYTimesGuild and @NYTGuildTech colleagues, supported by @WirecutterUnion. We'll continue to produce the same high quality journalism.
— Christina Kelso Martin (@Tina_Kelso) September 12, 2022
The @nytimes is giving employees branded lunch boxes this week as a return-to-office perk. We want respect and a fair contract instead — so I’m working from home this week along with 1,300 of my @NYTimesGuild and @NYTGuildTech colleagues, with support from @WirecutterUnion. pic.twitter.com/s8FaVxKLRu
— Remy Tumin (@remytumin) September 12, 2022
“These people want to stay at home because they feel unsafe,” Gutfeld went on as he noted some of the reasons that employees had argued to avoid having to leave the comforts of their homes, before suggesting the best response would be to fire the rebelling individuals for job abandonment. “This is a luxury protest. These people don’t make life work. Right?”
As the Post reported according to sources, the Times had been willing to provide a raise of four percent. However, the News Guild is seeking no less than an eight percent raise along with a 5.25 percent cost-of-living bump without ever being required to return to the office through the remainder of the contract.
Yet, a Times spokesperson contradicted that claim with a statement to the outlet saying, “We respect the rights of our colleagues in the Guild to make their voices heard. We’re actively working with the NYT NewsGuild to reach a collective bargaining agreement that financially rewards our journalists for their contributions to the success of The Times, is fiscally responsible as the company remains in a growth mode, and continues to take into account the industry landscape.”
“We presented the NewsGuild with a wage proposal that would offer contractual increases of 10 percent over the remaining two and a half years of the new contract. That is significantly higher than in recent Times Guild contracts. We look forward to making progress toward an agreement,” they added.
As “The Five,”co-host Jesse Watters boiled it down, “There’s two types of people in this world. There are the people that enjoyed the pandemic protocols and then there’s the rest of us that wanted to get back to normal. It just so happens that all the people that liked being locked down are in academia and in the media.”
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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