Times Newsroom Employees Vote to Accept New Contract

After 21 months of protracted negotiations between The New York Times and the union representing newsroom staff, members of the union voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday afternoon to ratify a contract.

The contract provides members with a one-time 3 percent bonus, 2 percent raises in each of the next three years and possible modest incentive payments starting in 2014.

The current pension plan will be frozen at the end of this year and replaced by an Adjustable Pension Plan overseen by Times and union representatives, assuming that the new plan, which seeks to share risk between the employer and employees, wins the approval of the Internal Revenue Service. The old pension will be fully funded by The Times through payments over the next several years. The Times will increase payments to the health-care fund and increase dental benefits, as well.

By Tuesday, 472 print employees voted in favor of the contract while 43 voted against and one employee abstained. O n the digital side, 49 employees voted for the contract while 21 employees were against the plan. While the print and digital sides of the newspaper have been combined in practice for years, the agreement officially combines both sides.

Grant Glickson, chair of The New York Times unit of the Newspaper Guild of New York, said he was pleased with the vote.

“For the first time, our members will have a bonus plan that upper management receives,” he said. “It's nowhere near as generous. But it's the same structure and the same goals for both sides.”

The Times did not release a statement.

During the months of negotiations, members of the newsroom staff staged three separate protests to share their concerns about the lack of progress in negotiations. These protests included a silent action in which workers gathered as top editors headed into the newspaper's editorial meeting and a brief walk-out. Staff members also gathered in the building's lobby to take a photograph to give to Mark Thompson, the incoming chief executive of The New York Times Company. Mr. Thompson started working on Monday.

On Oct. 10, The Times and the union agreed to work with a mediator, Marty Scheinman. A preliminary agreement was reached by Oct. 28 just before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast.

Members of the union attended informational sessions last week and shared impassioned e-mails about whether to vote for the contract. Many seasoned reporters who devoted their careers to the newspaper expressed the fear that the latest contract could hurt the generous pensions they counted on in retirement. Many younger reporters with less tenure said they never expected pensions in the first place.

Mr. Glickson said that this contract galvanized staff to start planning for the next contract in three years.

“It's comforting and it makes us feel we have the backing of our membership,” he said.