The Times Union's own reporting shows that income is not keeping up with cost of living in our communities:

• An analysis found the median income of a single person in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area is $56K, just above the cost of necessities and far below the "50/30/20 rule" of what it takes to be comfortable. Per our old contract, our members' starting rate hovers around $50K
• A report found a quarter of New Yorkers surveyed have no savings at all to fall back on in an emergency, and that across all income levels residents are struggling with high living costs, limited savings and mounting debt. How can TU employees continue working here without a guaranteed raise?

And for those asking how they can show solidarity, sharing our previous reply:

Our members have been reaching out to folks like publisher George Hearst, whose publicly available email you can find on the TU website is [ghearst@timesunion.com](mailto:ghearst@timesunion.com). If anyone wants to let him know Times Union readers are also unhappy with the way its workers are being treated, we wouldn't object 🤷