NY Times, NBC Digital Staffers Won't Return to The Office

Some union members of the New York Times and NBC News’s digital properties vowed not to come to the office this week and instead work remotely, defying their respective employers’ back-to-the-office plans, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Starting this week, the Times and NBC News expect employees to return to the office at least part of the week, both news organizations have told staff in recent memos.

The Times union on Sunday said it has more than 1,280 signatures from members pledging to stay home, some of which come from a coordinated effort with the Times’s tech and Wirecutter unions. The three Times unions collectively have around 2,000 members.

A Times spokeswoman said the news organization believes a hybrid work environment best suits the New York Times at this moment. She also said a collaborative work environment is a driver of success.

Multiple Times union members said the action was part of a larger effort to negotiate for a contract that includes higher wages and more flexible working conditions, among other issues such as improvement in diversity and inclusion efforts.

The Times union is currently negotiating with management to renew a five-year contract that expired in March 2021.

Some 215 members of NBC News’s digital newsroom union vowed to stay home this week, said Tate James, a video editor at NBC News and head of the digital union’s bargaining committee. The union, which like the Times’s union is part of the NewsGuild of New York, represents about 275 people.

In a letter that it tweeted last Wednesday, the company’s digital newsroom union said NBC was coercing employees to adhere to a plan that hadn’t been negotiated.

The nearly three-year-old union, which includes employees across nbcnews.com, msnbc.com and today.com, is also pushing for increased flexibility to work remotely, Mr. James said.

An NBC News spokesman said the news organization remained committed to a flexible and hybrid workplace and was in discussions with the Guild over a flexible return-to-office policy.

The Times in July told employees that it expected most staff to return to the office at least part of the week, including a hybrid routine with regular attendance, starting the week of Sept. 12. The company previously delayed an earlier planned return due to a Covid spike in New York City.