New York Times tech staff strikes, threatening Election Day coverage

The New York Times technology staff went on strike Monday morning just before Election Day, threatening to shut down the paper’s coverage as the 2024 presidential race winds down.

The Times’ technology staff walked off the job shortly after midnight, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The union’s demands include worker protections, fair pay and telecommuting options.

If the strikes continue until tomorrow, according to the union, it will be the first to coincide with a presidential election in 60 years.

“While we respect the union’s right to engage in protected action, we are disappointed that colleagues will strike at this time, which is both unnecessary and contrary to our mission,” a New York spokesman said. Times to The Post in a statement.

The Times’ Tech Guild did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Striking staff will picket daily outside company headquarters beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, the union told the New York Times.

The union had voted on September 10 to authorize the strike.

The union asked readers to “respect the digital picket line” and not play popular Times games like Wordle or use the Times cooking app, according to the Journal.

“We’ve been sounding the alarm for weeks and clearing our schedules to complete this contract before the election week deadline,” said Susan DeCarava, president of the NewsGuild of New York. “We are disappointed that the Times is willing to gamble with its election coverage to avoid a fair and just deal.”

Tech Guild has more than 600 members in the company’s engineering, product, design, data and project management departments.

More than 400 of the union’s members are engineers — fueling concerns that the strike could disrupt the Times’ news site’s important Election Day coverage. Without its tech staff, the company could struggle to fix the bugs it encountered on Tuesday and fail to update content on some of its specialized election coverage tools.

“We are in one of the most important periods of coverage for our readers, and we have strong plans to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission and serve our readers,” a New York Times spokesperson told The Post. .

The Times Tech Guild has been negotiating a contract since voting to unionize in March 2022.

The union said it was fighting for the inclusion of a “just cause” provision to protect workers in the face of rapidly improving artificial intelligence technology, equal pay for women and minorities and full-time remote work options.

Times tech workers are some of the highest-paid employees at the company, earning an average annual salary of $190,000 — $40,000 more than reporters in the Times Guild, according to the New York Times.

In an email to workers Sunday, Times management said it had offered the union a 2.5% annual salary increase, a 5% minimum wage increase for promotions and a $1,000 ratification bonus.

The Times said it would maintain its current hybrid requirements for two days of in-person work a week until June 2025.

The company also allows employees to work fully remotely for three weeks per year.

The New York Times told its Tech Guild that it agrees with the importance of “just cause” provisions, which prevent employees from being fired without sufficient cause, but believed it was management’s decision to determine ” just cause” – not a third party. .

The Times also disputed the union’s claims about pay equity and race. Guild’s methodology compares average compensation across different identity groups, rather than comparing compensation between employees in similar roles, the company told Tech Guild.

In 2022, the Times editorial union – which includes more than 1,000 employees – staged a one-day strike. The union secured a contract that included a base salary of $65,000 and a minimum raise of 10.6% for all staff.