A legal grievance from the union representing the New York Times staff was filed on Thursday in response to the company’s recent announcement of plans to shutter the newsroom’s sports section.
Just last year the New York Times acquired the Athletic for $550 million, which management now intends to rely on for all print and digital sports coverage. The Athletic’s newsroom, which is not unionized, consists of nearly 400 writers and editors.
Publisher A.G. Sulzberger has reportedly agreed to meet with the NYT sports desk, according to Vanity Fair. The sports section has been demanding answers from the executives since the announcement and individuals have received no substantial further information.
The NewsGuild’s grievance, sent to NYT executives, accuses the outlet of violating the union contract with its mission to dismantle the internal sports desk. The NYT does not have “the right to subcontract to itself and have nonunion workers do union work,” the Guild argued in a statement Thursday.
“These claims are preposterous on their face and a brazen attempt at union-busting,” the statement continued. The union is demanding a “cease and desist from further violations,” of the staff guild contract by the newspaper.
While the union is not directly challenging the dismantling of the sports section, it is arguing within the grievance that the organization cannot rely solely on non-guild employees for coverage.
The company has 20 days to respond to the grievance. The NYT will likely deny wrongdoing which would give the guild another 45 days to file for an arbitration hearing. The arbitrator will then have to determine whether the NYT can outsource sports coverage to non-union employees or if the company is obligated to produce its own under guild regulations.
