The New York Times’s software engineers are on strike right now and they have a simple request for readers: don’t play Wordle or the crossword puzzle this week. The Times Tech Guild represents more than 600 tech workers who maintain The Times’ digital new empire.
The New York Times is a storied news organization but it’s also a tech company. It has thrived when so many other news outlets have failed, in part, because its pivot to digital was smart and robust. Games like Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, and the Crossword drive huge numbers to the Times. The NYT Cooking App is beloved by many and brings in a lot of revenue.
But all that tech requires a wealth of backend support. In 2022, the Times’ tech workers unionized and they’ve been negotiating with management ever since. They signaled back in September that they were prepared to strike and would do it around election day. According to a statement from the Guild, the current pain points between it and management are: return to office mandates, limits on subcontracting, pay and equity, and “just cause” job protections. Workers want a provision in their contract that would ensure employees are only terminated for misconduct or similar reasons.
“We have been sounding the alarm for weeks and cleared our schedules to get this contract done before the election week deadline,” Susan DeCarava, the president of The NewsGuild of New York said in a statement. “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.”
Striking the day before the election is a calculated move designed to put maximum pressure on the paper at a time when its readership is spiking. The vaunted “election needle” is a staple of the Times’ coverage and it doesn’t run without the support of back-end tech workers. “We have robust plans in place to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission and serve our readers,” Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha told The Washington Post in October as the threat of the strike loomed.
“Our union members and bargaining committee have done everything possible to avoid this ULP strike,” Kathy Zhang—a unit chair of the Tech Guild and a senior analytics manager at The New York Times—said in a statement about the strike. “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 done.”
The Tech Guild is asking that readers not cross the digital picket line. They want readers to show their support by avoiding the cooking app and any of the popular NYT Games. Anyone who wants to support the strikers more directly can donate to a GoFundMe which has already raised more than $50,000.
More than 700 Times journalists and Times Guild members signaled their support of the Tech Union in a press release. “We can’t do our jobs without the Tech Guild,” the journalists said in their pledge.
This post was originally published on here
