New York Times Employee Union Says Pay Gap Persists for Women, Minorities

Highest-paid jobs are dominated by men, according to study

New York Times
Getty Images

A union representing New York Times employees claims a pay gap for women and minorities persists at the paper, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Communications Workers of America conducted a study, on behalf of the New York NewsGuild, which says that union-represented minority employees at the Times earn 10 percent less than the average wage at the paper, while women are paid 7 percent less.

“We have received the Guild’s study and have agreed to analyze the assertions it makes,” a Times spokeswoman said in a statement to the WSJ. “This is a detailed process that will take some time to complete.”

The WSJ story also mentions that similar alleged disparities occur at other publications, including, the Wall Street Journal itself and the Washington Post.

Minority and female staffers at the Times earn less than their white and male colleagues, with the highest-paid jobs being dominated by men, the union told the WSJ.

According to the WSJ, the study examined salary data for 1,112 unionized employees, excluding non-unionized staff such as management. It found that women make up 46 percent of the Times’ unionized staff, while minorities account for 22 percent of workers.

The Times will reportedly conduct its own study.

“It’s encouraging that management is taking our salary study seriously,” NewsGuild president Peter Szekely told the WSJ. “But examining other factors will not necessarily explain away or justify the pay gaps. More likely, it will just show how the disparities originated. We’re still going to have to work on closing the gaps.”

The union alleges that the largest pay gap for women occurred among those who had worked there for more than 20 years.

Comments