According to reports, the New York Times Tech Guild, which represents hundreds of the news outlet’s supporters, went on strike on the eve of the presidential election. The tech worker’s guild announced that that its members would begin protesting outside of the New York Times building at 9 a.m. Monday morning.
The protest was reportedly instigated by a September vote to go on strike at a critical juncture if a suitable deal was not agreed upon. As a result, the guild chose to go on strike right before the highly anticipated presidential election. Given that the New York Times is one of the most popular publications for Americans to source their political news, the protest presented a costly risk to the outlet.
The hundreds of members who belong to the guild are responsible for the back-end technology operations at the New York Times, ensuring that all processes run smoothly. The NYT has the largest subscription base out of any U.S. newspaper and generates a substantial portion of news website traffic. Therefore, if these employees were to abandon their posts at a critical time when interest in the election is at a peak, it could spell disaster for the newspaper.
Aside from Trump’s overall landslide win in the presidential election, Americans will want to continue following the results of many other state races for the House and Senate, where votes are still being counted, which will determine the balance of power in Washington going into 2025.
Kathy Zhang, the guild’s unit chair, illustrated the power of the labor strike, stating,”They have left us no choice but to demonstrate the power of our labor on the picket line.” She added, “Nevertheless, we stand ready to bargain and get this contract across the finish line.” Reportedly, the negotiations between the guild and the outlet had failed to reach an agreement on a “just cause” provision that would prevent firings unrelated to misconduct.
Last week, one disgruntled Guild employee criticized the New York Times, claiming the company was “dragging its feet” in the contract negotiations, pledging to strike if the outlet didn’t get its “s*** together.” Maintaining that the apps require extensive behind the scenes work, the employee said, “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.”
A New York Times spokesperson explained the company’s stance on the strike. “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.”
Watch late-night comedian Jon Stewart’s hysterical reaction to Trump winning below:
Featured image credit: Haxorjoe, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nytimes_hq.jpg
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