Release: New York Times Tech Guild walks off the job. | The NewsGuild – TNG-CWA

For Immediate Release: Nov. 4, 2024
Contact: Jen Sheehan, jen@nyguild.org, 610-573-0740

Tech Guild workers who power all NYT technology – including mobile push alerts, app & website maintenance and the ‘election needle’ – begin ULP strike, threatening to be the first NewsGuild work stoppage to coincide with a presidential election day in 60 years.

NEW YORK – The Times Tech Guild – the union that powers the technology behind election coverage at The New York Times – has walked off the job in a ULP strike that threatens Election Day.

The work stoppage began at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday despite multiple rounds of intense bargaining and a practice picket that drew more than 400 outside the headquarters of The Times and another 200 remotely on Wednesday.

Tech Guild members will begin picketing at 9 a.m. outside the Eighth Avenue entrance of The New York Times. The picket line will run 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

The Tech Guild is asking readers to honor the digital picket line and not play popular NYT Games such as Wordle and Connections as well as not use the NYT Cooking app. Members of the newsroom union, Times Guild, have pledged not to do struck work, a right that’s protected under their contract.

Despite the risk of a Tech Guild ULP strike disrupting access to news during the presidential election, management has failed to meaningfully address tech workers’ key concerns such as remote/hybrid work protections; “just cause” job protections, which the newsroom union has had for decades; limits on subcontracting; and pay equity/fair pay.

Throughout the bargaining process, Times management has engaged in numerous labor law violations, including implementing return-to-office mandates without bargaining and attempting to intimidate members through interrogations about their strike intentions. The NewsGuild of NY has filed unfair labor practice charges against The Times on these tactics as well as numerous other violations of labor law.

“Our union members and bargaining committee have done everything possible to avoid this ULP strike,” said Kathy Zhang, a Senior Analytics Manager at The New York Times and unit chair of the Tech Guild. “But management is more willing to risk our election coverage than they are to agree to a fair deal with its workers. They have left us no choice but to demonstrate the power of our labor on the picket line. Nevertheless, we stand ready to bargain and get this contract across the finish line.”

If no progress is made Monday and the ULP strike continues, it will be the first to coincide with a presidential election in the NewsGuild since the 1964 Detroit Newspaper Strike.

“This ULP strike by tech workers at The New York Times is a direct result of management’s decision to undervalue their labor as a contract negotiation strategy,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “We have been sounding the alarm for weeks and cleared our schedules to get this contract done before the election week deadline. As workers and subscribers, we’re disheartened that the Times is willing to gamble with its election coverage to avoid agreeing to a fair and just contract. We remain ready to bargain and look forward to reaching an agreement our members at Times Tech Guild will ratify.”

ABOUT THE NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK
The NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America, is a labor union representing nearly 6,000 media professionals and other employees at New York area news organizations, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Thomson Reuters, The Nation, TIME, PEOPLE, Wirecutter, and The Daily Beast. The NewsGuild of New York advocates for journalists to have a voice in the newsroom, for press freedom, for inclusive and diverse workplaces, and for just cause, no exceptions, for all media professionals.

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