New York Times tech workers go on strike just hours before presidential election begins

Company technical staff New York Times went on strike just hours before Election Day, which could further complicate the paper’s coverage of the incredibly tight presidential contest.

The work stoppage occurred after several rounds of negotiations. The picketing began in front of the newspaper on Monday at 9:00. The News Guild of New York, a union representing technology workers, asked readers to respect the digital picket line and not play popular games such as Wardle or visit the NYT Cooking app.

Technical workers in Time control everything from website maintenance to mobile push notifications and the newspaper’s “election needle.” If the strike continues into Tuesday, it will be the first time a strike has coincided with a presidential election since 1964. Previously group declared a half-day strike Oct. 30, protesting the return-to-office mandate.

ˆNew York Times said it had plans to ensure minimal impact from the strike on election coverage and expressed disappointment at the timing of the work.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Tech Guild to negotiate a fair contract that recognizes that they are already among the highest paid individual contributors in the Company and that journalism is our top priority,” the spokesperson said. “We are in one of the most important periods of coverage for our readers, and we have robust plans in place to help us deliver on our mission and serve our readers. While we respect a union’s right to engage in protected activities, we are disappointed that colleagues would go on strike at this time, which is unnecessary and contrary to our mission.”

Union officials, however, say they did everything possible to avoid the action.

“Our union members and the bargaining committee did everything they could to avoid this ULP strike,” said Kathy Zhang, chair of the Technical Guild chapter. in the statement. “But management would rather risk our election coverage than agree to a fair deal with its workers. They left us no choice but to demonstrate the strength of our labor on the picket line. However, we are ready to bargain and fulfill this contract.”

The tech guild has about 600 members, ranging from data analysts and project managers to software engineers. They are becoming an increasingly important part of the newspaper’s operations as it works to expand its digital subscriptions.

The union has not had a contract since its creation in 2022, but Time Officials say the workers he represents are already among the highest paid in the company, earning an average of $40,000 a year more than union members. Times’ Union of Journalists.

This story was originally published on Fortune.com