Tech Guild at NY Times Ponders Election Day Strike Over Contracts

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The New York Times Tech Guild’s potential Election Day strike threatens to disrupt crucial election coverage. The strike highlighting the growing tension between management and tech workers. Guild represents 600 members, including software engineers and data analysts. NYT claims to have plans to minimize disruption despite strike threat.

Tech Guild’s Strategic Move Threatens Election Coverage.

The New York Times Tech Guild, which has approximately 600 members including software engineers, product managers, data analysts, and designers, is considering a strike around Election Day. This strategic move has the potential to disrupt the Times’ election coverage by affecting live updates, results, forecasts, and essential services such as the election-night needle and push notifications.

The timing of this potential strike is especially critical, as roughly half of the Guild’s employees work on election-critical programs. This emphasizes the critical role that these technology professionals play in the publication’s operations, particularly during major events such as elections.

Ongoing Negotiations and Accusations

The Tech Guild has been negotiating its first contract with the New York Times since 2022, with a focus on key issues such as job security and pay equity. Both parties have accused the other of stalling negotiations, resulting in a tense atmosphere at the bargaining table.

“Pretty much every aspect of the business is backed by digital systems that we’ve created,” said Harnett, “I’ve been at the New York Times for 12½ years. I’ve been on call for all the presidential elections during that time, and the midterms — things go wrong all night. If engineers with critical knowledge of those systems aren’t there, … that could really go through the whole business.”

This statement by Benjamin Harnett, a Tech Guild member, emphasizes the critical role these workers play in ensuring smooth operations during major events such as elections. It also highlights the potential consequences of their absence at such critical times.

NYT’s Response and Support for the Guild

Despite the strike threat, the New York Times claims to have contingency plans in place to mitigate disruption. According to NYT spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha, “we have robust plans in place to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission and serve our readers.” However, the efficacy of these plans remains to be seen, especially given the Tech Guild members’ specialized knowledge and skills.

The Tech Guild has garnered significant support from within the New York Times community. Approximately 750 NYT journalists have urged management to reach an agreement with the Tech Guild, demonstrating solidarity among different groups of employees. Other NYT unions, including Wirecutter’s union, have also voiced their support for the Tech Guild and criticized management’s negotiation efforts.

Implications for Election Coverage

The potential strike could jeopardize the New York Times’ ability to provide comprehensive and timely election coverage. With the Tech Guild in charge of maintaining critical systems and tools used in election reporting, their absence could cause technical issues and delays in delivering critical information to readers.

As the situation progresses, both New York Times management and the Tech Guild are under pressure to reconcile their differences and reach an agreement. The outcome of these negotiations will not only affect the working conditions of the Times’ tech workers, but it may also have far-reaching consequences for the newspaper’s ability to fulfill its journalistic mission during one of the most important events on the political calendar.

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