OAN Staff James Meyers
7:47 AM – Monday, November 4, 2024
In a surprising move, The New York Times Tech Guild that represents hundreds of the giant newspaper’s tech staffers went on strike on Monday, just one day before Election Day.
The guild said in a statement that members would begin protesting outside the Times headquarters on a daily basis, beginning at 9 a.m. (EST), according to the New York Times.
The planned walkout came after a vote on September 10th to go on strike at a critical juncture if a deal wasn’t made during Election Week.
Meanwhile, the 2024 election is continuing to ramp up with just one day to go, and the New York Times has the largest online subscription base of any American newspaper and one of the most highly trafficked news websites.
The Tech Guild’s 600 members run the back-end systems that power the outlet’s extensive digital operations, working in engineering, product, design, data and the project management office.
The strike could affect the paper’s ability to cover the election results of the presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, as well as the hundreds of House and dozens of Senate races dominating the national conversation and determining who will take control of Washington in 2025.
“They have left us no choice but to demonstrate the power of our labor on the picket line,” Kathy Zhang, the guild’s unit chair, said in the statement, according to the New York Times. “Nevertheless, we stand ready to bargain and get this contract across the finish line.”
According to the outlet, negotiations went into Sunday night and disagreements were over issues like a “just cause” provision that would prevent termination for reasons unrelated to misconduct, as well as pay raises and return-to-office policies. Times management told employees on Sunday it had proposed a 2.5% annual wage hike, a 5% pay increase minimum for promotions and a $1,000 ratification bonus.
At a rally last week, one Guild employee called for the company to stop “dragging its feet” on a contract and guaranteed a strike would take place if it didn’t get its “s–t together.”
“Our work that all of us in the Tech Guild do is as human and as directly powered by our labor as the work of our co-workers in the newsroom,” he said.
Additionally, the Tech Guild posted on X on October 30th, “One of the most offensive things we’ve seen from @nytimes during this contract fight is managers trying to discourage our members from striking and even providing a secret way to scab during a strike by feeding code to a contractor remotely. Union busting is disgusting!”
Furthermore, the Tech guild voted to unionize in March 2022.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Tech Guild to reach a fair contract that takes into account that they are already among the highest paid individual contributors in the Company and journalism is our top priority,” spokesperson Danielle Rhoades-Ha said. “We’re in one of the most consequential periods of coverage for our readers and have robust plans in place to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission and serve our readers. While we respect the union’s right to engage in protected actions, we’re disappointed that colleagues would strike at this time, which is both unnecessary and at odds with our mission.”
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