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Hundreds of Newspaper Guild workers briefly walked off the job yesterday at the New York Times to protest the slow pace of talks over a new contract.
The action marked an amping up of the tensions between Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and the 1,200 workers in the largest union at the company.
“At every bargaining session for the past year and half, negotiators for the Times have offered us the same poisoned chalice: perpetually shrinking compensation,” said a union memo to members, urging them to take their protest to the street.
The union was careful not to call the mini-walkout a job action, urging only people who had about 10 or 15 minutes to spare to take part.
But the newsroom did briefly empty out in New York as about 300 to 400 Guild reporters, photographers and ad-sales people left their posts at around 3:35 p.m. and made a brief walk outside one entrance, up Eighth Avenue and back inside at the 41st Street entrances.
The Washington bureau also engaged in a walkout at about the same time, sources said.
The Guild contract expired in March 2011.
“People are mad,” said columnist Jim Dwyer, who was among those staging the mini-walkout yesterday afternoon. “They are hurting financially. It’s a needless drain and a distraction from what they are doing [in their jobs]. This foot-dragging has gone on long enough.”
Workers are protesting paltry pay proposals and a company plan to freeze and eliminate the defined-benefit pension plan.
The two sides are scheduled to resume negotiations today.
A company spokeswoman said, “We continue to remain focused on our priority of reaching a fair agreement with the Guild.”