'I don't need cute trinkets': Nearly 1,300 New York Times staffers refuse to return to office

More than 1,000 New York Times staffers refused to return to the office this week and are threatening to strike if the company does not meet its employee union demands.

The news organization's union employees announced Monday that they sent a letter to corporate leadership with the names of nearly 1,300 NewsGuild members who signed a pledge to continue to work remotely this week – the first week the company wants its journalists back in the office.

Throngs of union staffers tweeted their disdain as they were given "cute" branded lunchboxes as a free perk in a bid to get them to return to the office three times a week. 

Employees said the small gesture doesn't help with soaring gasoline prices, a steady increase in inflation and sharply rising interest rates. Those who signed the pledge include members of the NewsGuild, Times Tech Guild and Wirecutter. 

“It’s kind of amusing to put lunchboxes out as the thing that people are going to gather around when you have a staff of journalists that often work right through our lunch break,” Senior Staff Editor Andrea Zagata told Fortune.

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In the interim, the Times guild posted on Twitter, union staffers will "continue to produce high-quality, award-winning work, while reminding the company it cannot unilaterally change our working conditions."

Any return to office policy “as a matter of workplace health and safety, should be a part of our negotiated contracts,” the union wrote. It said it believes any return to office procedures should fall in the same negotiating camp as “provisions for fair wages, equitable treatment for members” and other matters as it relates to the workplace.

A Times spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment to USA TODAY.

According to the Times, the news giant employs about 1,700 journalists who report from more than 160 countries each year.

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Visual Investigations journalist Christiaan Triebert wrote: "The @nytimes is giving employees branded lunch boxes as a return-to-office perk. Instead I'd like management to bargain with us in good faith. I’m working from home this week along with 1,300 of my @NYTimesGuild and @NYTGuildTech  colleagues, with support from @WirecutterUnion."

“My colleagues and I don’t need cute trinkets. 330 of us wrote emails last month asking for real raises to combat inflation," another staffer wrote. "What we need is a contract...” 

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.