New Yorker magazine journalists strike over ‘insulting’ pay

Journalists at The New Yorker magazine staged a walkout on Thursday in protest over “insulting” basic pay, which they claim is “unlivable” for one of the US’s most expensive cities.

Members of the union went on a 24-hour strike beginning at 6am on Thursday after their calls to raise the minimum salary to $64,000 (£47,000) were rejected by management at parent company Condé Nast, which instead offered $45,000.

The New Yorker Union represents around 100 editorial staffers at the magazine, including copy editors, assistant editors, editors and web producers, but not staff writers.

A recent pay survey conducted by Condé Nast found that union workers at The New Yorker, one of America’s most prestigious and respected magazines, had a median wage of $64,000 and that the company’s editorial assistants were paid a median of $42,000.

The gap between men’s and women’s median pay was close to $7,000, it concluded, adding that “women of colour earn a lower median salary than white women.” 

The New Yorker’s median wage falls more than five per cent short of the $67,271 earned in 2020 by the typical New York City media worker, which the union based on industry estimates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator.

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