Striking New York Times tech workers discuss impact on election coverage: ‘No contract, no needle’

NEW YORK-New York Times tech workers strike goes into effect second day Hundreds of employees picketed and chanted for a fair contract Tuesday, leaving questions about how the country’s largest newspaper will be able to digitally cover the biggest news day of the year.

“We’d like to get back to work, but the company isn’t really giving us a contract that fairly reflects the work we do every election,” Times engineer and Tech Guild member Jeff Sisson told Fox News Digital outside the building’s headquarters. Tuesday.

The 600 members of the Technical Guild, who oversee the server systems that power the newspaper’s extensive digital operations, went on strike at midnight Monday when they failed to reach agreement on a contract.

Several union members told Fox News Digital that they have been working on an agreement with Times management for more than two years, and it is unclear what the newspaper’s website will look like on election night as Americans elect either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris as president.

NEW YORK TIMES STAFF concerned the paper didn’t crack down hard enough on Trump over ‘SANEWASHING’ coverage: report

Against the background of the strikeThe Times’ famous election arrow, which shows a candidate’s chances of winning based on current numbers and future projections, may not be published on the site because the necessary infrastructure and data is the responsibility of the technology team.

On Tuesday evening the NewsGuild union sent to X: “No contract, no needle.” Chief policy analyst Nate Cohn suggested earlier in the day that needle use was also off the table.

Goran Svorkan-Merola, a senior software engineer at the Times and a member of the Tech Guild’s negotiating committee, said he and his union colleagues were eager to reach an agreement before the election.

“We made an offer to management on Sunday and we haven’t heard from them since,” he said. “We hope they will return to the negotiating table, but nothing yet. We have serious concerns about their latest opposition to us.”

“I’m sure they’re talking to someone, but not to us,” he added.

Party members also told Fox News Digital that they will continue to strike after Election Day until an agreement is reached, but Sworcan-Merola confirmed they are ready to negotiate at any time.

Despite the election week deadline, Sworcan-Merola said they have given management enough time to reach an agreement before this week and that the decision to strike is not one they take lightly.

“We wanted to give management more time to reach an agreement. But elections are a time when our members are under extreme stress,” he said. “We want to show that this is a big night for our work, this is a big night for our work, and if you want us there, you have to give us a fair deal.”

Sisson, the Times’ chief storytelling and publishing engineer, said the walkout is “not by choice,” adding that he’s not sure what the website will look like on election night.

HUNDREDS OF NEW YORK TIMES TECHNICAL STAFF UNITED ON STRIKE BEFORE ELECTION DAY

“It’s a great mystery,” he said. “Nobody knows. I think this is a risk that my colleagues and I are very aware of. Like I said, we didn’t want it to get to this point. I can’t predict exactly what will happen.”

But according to Sisson, this may be common.

“I think the secrecy here is part of the risk,” he said. “This is not how we are used to holding elections. I worked here and covered, I think, three presidential elections. Suffice it to say that this is not a typical election for us, and we understand that very well. “

Sisson said he and his colleagues are asking for fair pay, flexibility to work remotely and protection from termination through a “just cause” clause that News Guild members have in their contract.

“Part of this indicates that they think they can operate without us, but we’re all going to figure out exactly what that’s going to look like on election night, which is one of the most important nights of the year for The New York Times. The New York Times reporting continues,” he said.

Stacy Cawley, a Times business reporter, said the Tech Guild is fighting for many of the protections that the News Guild has provided for generations.

“The tech guild fought for this for two and a half years, and the company refused for two and a half years to give them the same job protections that were always in our contract,” she said. said. “It’s really unconscionable.”

NYT PLAGIARISM CONSULTANT ADMITS HARRIS SCANDAL ‘MORE SERIOUS’ THAN HE THOUGHT

Cawley said their strike was not about lesser demands, as the Times touted in its public comments.

“I also think it’s incredibly cynical and dishonest on the part of management that they keep talking about things like bereavement leave, unscented products in the toilet,” she said, referring to some reports of bizarre member demands Guilds that went beyond typical issues. like a higher salary. “These were things that were on the table very briefly, took about five minutes of negotiation time, and they have been off the table for over a year. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Cawley also called out what she called a “hypocritical” stance from Times management, given the pro-union stance the paper has historically taken in its news and editorial coverage.

“I am very sad that they have come to this point because our technicians voted again to authorize a strike on September 10th. They deliberately did it two months early, thinking that would give them time to actually get the deal done,” she said.

“A lot of my colleagues are very upset to be here doing this today,” she added. “I mean, a lot of our people have spent years building systems, creating graphics, creating tools for today. They were very excited to be in the newsroom and working on Election Day.”

A New York Times spokesperson gave Fox News Digital the same statement as the day before, expressing disappointment at the timing of the strike.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Tech Guild to negotiate a fair contract that recognizes that they are already among the Company’s highest-paid individual employees 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.”