The Athletic is owned by The New York Times, but its employees are not currently recognized by management as members of the Times Guild. Workers took a major step towards trying to change that Monday.
The Times Guild announced Monday that employees of The Athletic have asked management to recognize them as members of the guild, which those already in support:
WE HAVE EXCITING NEWS! Today, workers from @TheAthletic sent a letter to Times management calling on them to recognize Athletic editorial workers as members of the Times Guild. We are thrilled to have them in our union. pic.twitter.com/mgJgoNVo0B
Today, we all sent a clear message to Times management: Sports jobs are Times Guild jobs, and we will not stand for a two-tier system of employment at The Times. Athletic staff does Times Guild work, and they deserve Times Guild benefits.
— NYTimesGuild (@NYTimesGuild) January 6, 2025
We are collectively calling on Times management to do the right thing and recognize Athletic staff as part of our union. We are stronger together, and we will stand together in this fight.
Our mission as staff across The New York Times is clear: We aim to ensure that all workers at this company have a voice at the table, building and supporting a diverse workforce, and guaranteeing fair pay and job protections, no matter where they work within The Times.
We know a rising tide lifts all boats and we are so excited by this big step for Athletic staff. You can learn more in our press release below: pic.twitter.com/fPZA0ttn8V
Essentially what happened is that The New York Times purchased The Athletic in January of 2022. For a time, there was both The Athletic and a sports section for The New York Times. But in July of 2023, The New York Times disbanded its sports department, essentially turning to the staff of The Athletic to provide coverage in that regard. The problem is that the employees of The New York Times had been unionized, while those with The Athletic were not, even though they are employees of the company. This seeks to rectify that.
The Athletic is home nationally to journalists like Ken Rosenthal, Mike Sando, Jayson Stark, John Hollinger, Tyler Kepner and Bruce Feldman. Locally, Matt Gelb covers the Phillies, Kevin Kurz the Flyers and Brooks Kubena the Eagles.
Gelb – who has been with The Athletic since January of 2018 — showed his support for the effort to be recognized by management as part of the Times Guild by changing his profile picture on social media to the one at the top of the article. Gelb also retweeted this message from Tim Britton, the Mets beat writer for the outlet:
So excited for this day to finally arrive. Sports jobs are Times Guild jobs. #IAMTIMESGUILD https://t.co/viQNxIdeAD
