Technology staffers at the New York Times have gone on strike just hours before Election Day, which could make the paper’s coverage of an incredibly tight presidential contest even tougher.
The work stoppage comes after multiple rounds of bargaining. Picketing began in front of the newspaper’s entrance Monday at 9:00 a.m. The NewsGuild of New York, the union representing the technology workers, asked readers to honor a digital picket line by not playing popular games like Wordle or accessing the NYT Cooking app.
Tech workers at the Times oversee everything from website maintenance to mobile push alerts to the paper’s “election needle.” Should the strike continue into Tuesday, it will be the first time a strike has interacted with a presidential election since 1964. The group previously went on a half-day strike on Oct. 30, protesting return-to-office mandates.
ˆNew York Times said it had plans in place to ensure election coverage saw minimal impacts from the strike and expressed frustration with the timing of the work action.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Tech Guild to reach a fair contract that takes into account that they are already among the highest paid individual contributors in the Company and journalism is our top priority,” a spokesperson said. “We’re in one of the most consequential periods of coverage for our readers and have robust plans in place to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission and serve our readers. While we respect the union’s right to engage in protected actions, we’re disappointed that colleagues would strike at this time, which is both unnecessary and at odds with our mission.”
Union officials, though, say they did all they could to avoid the action.
“Our union members and bargaining committee have done everything possible to avoid this ULP strike,” said Kathy Zhang, unit chair of the Tech Guild, in a statement. “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 has roughly 600 members, ranging from data analysts and project managers to software engineers. They have become an increasingly critical part of the paper’s operations as the push is underway to expand digital subscriptions.
The union has not had a contract since it was formed in 2022, but Times officials say the workers it represents are already among the highest-paid at the company, earning an average of $40,000 more per year than members of the Times’ union for journalists.