NEW YORK TIMES TECH GUILD VOTES YES TO STRIKE

NEW YORK – The Times Tech Guild – the union that includes software engineers, product managers, data analysts, project managers and designers at the New York Times – has voted to authorize a strike just as the presidential election session shifts into high gear.  

The Times Tech Guild is a bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York, which represents nearly 6,000 media workers including two other units at The New York Times. The Tech Guild is also the largest union of tech workers with collective bargaining rights in the country. 

The strike authorization vote concluded Tuesday, with 89% of the union’s members voting and 95% approving the strike. 

The timing of the Times Tech strike authorization vote is no accident. Roughly half of the workers in the bargaining unit work on election critical programs. And today, which will be the first debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, will be particularly busy for many Tech Guild members. 

“We are sending Times management a strong message with our vote today,” said Kathy Zhang, a Senior Analytics Manager at The New York Times and unit chair of the Tech Guild. “Our work produces incredible value in this company. Our members have earned a fair contract and we’re ready to do whatever it takes to make sure we get it.” 

The Tech Guild, which won its union election by a landslide in March 2022, is negotiating its first contract. Times management has been dragging their feet in bargaining and attacking the Tech Guild every step of the way since workers first announced their intention to be a union in 2021. 

Among the major issues at stake for the Tech Guild is job security, which is under threat from the rise of AI and the company’s discriminatory practices around discipline and termination. Two-thirds of the members fired by New York Times management since the Times Tech Guild  formed have been from underrepresented groups. Union members on visas have had their lives thrown into chaos when the company arbitrarily put their immigration status at risk. Members called out the Times for this practice in a reply-all email action in June. 

These actions by management are among the many reasons why Tech Guild members are fighting for “just cause” protections in their contract, an industry and labor standard which requires management to have a just and fair reason to discipline an employee. Times management is attempting to force tech workers to accept a carveout that undermines that standard of due process in the workplace and puts more of their colleagues in the line of fire.  

Correcting pay inequity is another critical strike issue. In June, the Tech Guild released its pay study which found that:

• Women, who make up 41% of the Tech Guild, earn 12% less on average than men
• Black women and Hispanic or Latina women, who make up just over 6 percent of the Tech Guild, make 33% less than white men in the unit 
• Black workers, who make up 7 percent of the union, earn 26% less than white workers 

Pay inequity isn’t new at The Times. The Times Guild, which represents nearly 1,500 workers  in the newsroom, advertising and other areas of the company, has also taken on pay inequity.

The NYGuild has filed several Unfair Labor Practice charges against the New York Times at the National Labor Relations Board for unlawful actions including failure to bargain in good faith and unilateral changes to working conditions.

“Readers and subscribers of the New York Times depend heavily on the often invisible labor of our Times Tech Guild membership for digital access to news, games and, especially during this election cycle, timely updates from Times Guild-represented journalists. Thus far Times management appears unwilling to recognize the critical value of Tech Guild labor,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “Our union stands united in supporting Tech Guild’s efforts to accomplish a fair and just contract, including the possibility of a strike. We’re ready to hit the picket line. It’s up to Times management to decide what happens next.” 

The Times Tech Guild is the second largest bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York, just behind the Times Guild, which represents journalists, editorial, advertising and administrative staff. The NewsGuild of New York is the largest TNG-CWA Local in the United States.