Village Voice Staff Set To Strike

Staffers at The Village Voice are set to strike if they can't agree on contract negotiations by midnight on June 30th.

According to the union press release, the Voice staff has been cut by an estimated 60 percent and average annual salaries have been reduced:

"Management has so far played hardball with the union, refusing to make an offer, while demanding extensive concessions from the newspaper’s staff including a substantial, ever-increasing contribution to an inferior health plan, as well as the elimination of management’s own contribution to employees’ retirement accounts."

If the strike goes through, loyal Voice readers won't be punished. The staff plans on publishing content via Tumblr at an alternative site called The Real Voice.

When the Voice staffers unanimously voted to authorize the strike last week, The New York Observer pointed out that in 2008 at the last round of negotiations, "the union fought down the proposal of a two-tiered benefits system which would grandfather existing employees in the good benefits package but offer a lesser model to new hires, asking, 'Why worry about the unborn?”' Since then, management has used the benefits the union defended to lure new talent to the Voice."