Today is Black Friday, an institution in the United States, and copied around the world, the opportunity for consumers to buy cheaper products a few weeks before the end of the year holidays – and for the big brands to achieve significant turnover. And it is this moment of the commercial promotions that the employees of Wirecutter chose to strike.
This product review and recommendation site belongs to the very prestigious American journal New York Times and some of its journalists openly revolt against their employer to express their solidarity with Wirecutter’s colleagues.
For each product purchased through the link presented by the Wirecutter site, the New York Times earns a percentage of the transaction amount. And precisely, to preserve this important source of income, the newspaper’s management decided to bypass the strike by recruiting non-unionized employees.
This is denounced not only by the representatives of the staff of Wirecutter, but also by certain journalists from the New York Times who posted calls on social media, urging consumers not to click on recommended products in Wirecutter’s list.
According to the union of Wirecutter employees, the strike is supposed to last until next Monday. Salary negotiations have been deadlocked for two years. Employees demand an increase in the minimum wage and an annual increase of 2.5%, while the management of the New York Times only wants to concede 1%.
The union considers that this is not sufficient given the financial importance of Wirecutter for the New York Times.