Insider and its union have reached a resolution.
“We have a tentative agreement on a contract that will give our members more money and job protections and resolve our ULP,” a tweet from the Insider Union account reads. The strike is now over and workers will return to the office tomorrow.
“Insider is pleased to have reached an agreement with its newsroom union on a Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA formalizes many of the company’s existing practices, policies and benefits, including top of the market competitive pay, freedom to work from anywhere in the U.S., 16 weeks of parental leave and many successful DEI initiatives. With this contract, we will continue to offer pay and benefits at the high-end of our industry,” a spokesperson for Insider told TheWrap.
This tentative agreement on a new contract includes a $65,000 minimum salary for employees, on par with such publications as The New York Times. It also includes a just cause clause, a layoff moratorium through the end of the year, raises of over 10% during the term of the contract and over $400,000 in healthcare reimbursements. It also includes $2,200 in tax-free cash for employees to spend on mental health and prescriptions as well as a revised raise structure.
A 3.5% raise will be offered to anyone who has not already gotten a raise this year. Those who already had received a raise would get a 2% raise. In 2024, union members would then receive a guaranteed 3.75% raise. That would be followed by a 3% raise in 2025.
This is comparable to the raises planned for the New York Times guild, which are 3.25% in 2024 and 3%% in 2025. The NYT guild reached a compromise with its unionized newsroom in May after a 24-hour strike. That compromise also included immediate raises of up to 12.5 percent to cover the years 2021 through 2023. Under Insider’s impending guidelines, merit raises would still be available.
Additionally, Insider employees would also be able to work from anywhere, including fully remote work. The New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and Reuters do not currently offer a fully remote option.
The Insider strike recently made headlines due to a video that surfaced of global editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson. A source close to the situation told TheWrap that certain members of the Insider union were critical of the fliers that recently made headlines. The New York Post obtained a video of the editor-in-chief removing pro-union fliers with his face on them near his Brooklyn residence. Only the “Have you seen this millionaire CEO?” fliers that contained images of Carlson’s face were removed.
After they were posted, certain Insider union members reached out to Carlson to criticize the fliers, calling them “beyond the pale.”
On Friday, June 2, unionized Insider employees walked out of the office after negotiations fell through. This walkout happened nearly two months after the company announced planes to layoff 10% of its staff. The strike primarily had to do with Insider moving to a more expensive healthcare provider, pay equity concerns and demands for fair pay.
