Hundreds of New York Times tech workers have begun a strike on Election Day after walking off their jobs the day before.
The mainstream media outlet’s Tech Guild has been threatening to go on strike if they were not given a new contract by Election Day that agrees to all of their conditions.
In a post on X from Tuesday morning, the New York Times Tech Guild declared: “We are back out on the picket line today. We know this is a hard day to be on strike for our members but we want to be clear: We are here because of the decisions of @NYTimes management.”
ELECTION DAY STRIKE: We are back out on the picket line today. We know this is a hard day to be on strike for our members but we want to be clear: We are here because of the decisions of @NYTimes management. pic.twitter.com/K3ceJn4dHa
— New York Times Tech Guild (@NYTGuildTech) November 5, 2024
This union represents over 600 tech workers from the New York Times who are in charge of games like Wordle and The Crossword, while also monitoring many of the outlet’s audio options and the New York Times Cooking app.
In a statement to the Washington Post, New York Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha explained that the Times “respect[s] the union’s right to engage in protected actions,” but is “disappointed that colleagues would strike at this time” because it is “unnecessary and at odds with our mission.”
This strike poses a serious risk to the New York Times’ election coverage tools, including the electoral map and election needle.
“It’s our peak traffic, when we see the most people coming to The New York Times is during a presidential election, so that’s why months ago we gave management a deadline saying we wanted a contract by the election or we’re going on strike,” New York Times software engineer Sarah Duncan told Fox News. “They wouldn’t give us what we were demanding, so we’ve already made enough compromises. We’re done compromising, so we’re out here until we get a fair contract.”
This strike comes as the New York Times’ tech union has been negotiating a contract for the first time since the union was created in 2022. Their central demands that have not yet been met include just-cause job protections to ensure union members cannot be fired without a reason, contractual assurances that the outlet will not change the current hybrid work policies that allow union members to work outside of the office for a significant portion of their job, and so-called “pay equity and pay fairness,” according to The Daily Wire.
They have also made a few ridiculous demands that have prompted mockery on social media, including a ban on scented products in the workplace, unlimited break time, bereavement leave for deceased pets, and mandatory trigger warnings.
The New York Times Tech Guild went on strike today.
As a reminder, here are their demands:
– A ban on scented products
– Unlimited break time
– Pet bereavement
– Mandatory trigger warnings when discussing events in the news— Austin Rief ☕️ (@austin_rief) November 4, 2024
