Hundreds of employees from The Times Tech Guild, a union affiliated with the NewsGuild of New York, have gone on strike one day before the 2024 U.S. elections. The union represents over 600 engineers, data managers, designers, software developers, and tech personnel who develop and run the systems that power the New York Times’ website and apps. This strike could potentially disrupt the newspaper’s election coverage, marking the first time a strike has coincided with a presidential election since the 1964 Detroit newspaper strike, according to the union.
The strike began at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday (November 4), despite multiple rounds of intense bargaining. Times workers affiliated with the Tech Guild began picketing at 9 a.m. outside the 8th Ave. entrance of the paper between 40th and 41st streets. The picket line is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The Tech Guild is asking Times readers to honor the digital picket line, refrain from playing popular NYT Games such as Wordle and Connections, and not use the NYT Cooking app.
The union has accused the Times management of failing to address tech workers’ key concerns, leading to the filing of unfair labor practice charges against the Times and allegations of numerous violations of labor law. The main concerns of the Tech Guild workers that remain unresolved include remote/hybrid work protections, “just cause” job protections, limits on subcontracting, and pay equity/fair pay.
In response, a spokesperson for the Times stated that the company has “robust plans in place to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission and serve our readers.”
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