The Athletic Workers Demand Voluntary Recognition with NewsGuild-CWA

On January 6th editorial staff at sports publication The Athletic sent a letter to New York Times Publisher AG Sulzberger and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, requesting voluntary recognition of the workers as part of the Times Guild, NewsGuild-CWA Local 31003.

“We are proud of all that The Athletic and The New York Times as a whole has accomplished since our 2022 acquisition, and we know that our inclusion in the Times Guild will only further strengthen our work,” the letter said in part.

The New York Times acquired The Athletic in 2022 and despite management assertions that their operations would remain separate, they have been integrated into the Times’ newsroom. In September of 2023, Times management closed the New York Times Sports Desk and the work was shifted to Times staff assigned to The Athletic. 

The Times Guild, which represents nearly 1,500 workers in the newsroom as well as business and support staff, also sent a statement to Times management expressing their full support for their coworkers at The Athletic, writing, “We urge the company to recognize what has been true since the company began publishing The Athletic’s work under the banner of The New York Times: We are one newsroom, and our colleagues at The Athletic are Times Guild members.”

“The Times must recognize these workers as part of the Times Guild.” said Susan DeCarava, President of The NewsGuild of New York. “We will not support a two-tier system that disenfranchises workers and undermines our members, nor will we accept management’s charade that The Athletic is a separate entity.”

Click here to read more about worker organizing at The Athletic.