New York Daily News journalists walk away from their jobs for a day

Journalists at The New York Daily News left their jobs Thursday for the first time in more than three decades.

Editorial staff at The Daily News Union, founded in 2021, are negotiating their first contract. The union called for a one-day work stoppage to protest staff cuts, as well as a new policy requiring workers to get prior approval for overtime.

Founded in 1919, The Daily News was once a formidable urban gossip that competed for scoops against its rival, The New York Post, and was one of the largest newspapers in the country by circulation. But in recent years the newspaper has been hollowed out by ownership changes and staff cuts as it grapples with dwindling circulation and declining revenues.

In 2021, its parent company, Tribune Publishing, was purchased by Alden Global Capital, an investment firm that has bought hundreds of newspapers across the country and along the way earned a reputation for making deep cuts to newsrooms.

About a third of union members have left The Daily News since spring 2022, with 54 members now listed, according to the union.

“The reality is we are being crushed for money,” Michael Gartland, a Daily News reporter and union executive, said in a statement. “As a result, our workforce is declining, which means our ability to serve the city is declining.”

A spokeswoman for Alden Global Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The last work stoppage at The Daily News was a five-month strike in 1990 and 1991.

On Thursday, Daily News journalists plan to picket outside a co-working space that now serves as their temporary office. The Daily News permanently closed its newsroom in Lower Manhattan in 2020.