The New York Times Tech Guild went on strike at 12:01AM ET today, reports The Washington Post. The guild represents over 600 software engineers, product managers, data analysts, and designers for the media company. Its strike leaves the company bereft of crucial technical expertise just one day before Election Day, when the Times’ crucial backend systems will be under very heavy stress.
The guild has been bargaining since 2022 for its first union contract with the company. Negotiations between it and the Times hit logjams over things like a “just cause” provision that prevents the company from firing workers unless it’s for something like misconduct, as well as pay increases, pay equity, and return-to-office policies, reports the Times. The guild says on a GoFundMe page for the workers that it’s working to address racial differences in pay and discipline that disproportionately targets women and people of color.
Times services — including games like Wordle and the NYT Cooking app — are still functional. (The guild, which will be picketing in front of the paper’s Times Square office every day, asks that readers honor its picket line by not using any of those services, according to The Washington Post.) But the Times’ election coverage is heavily tech-driven and could suffer without union worker support. A pledge signed by over 750 of its journalists said they can’t do their jobs without the workers, whose efforts are crucial when things go wrong with key coverage features like the Times election needle.
Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha told the Post last month that it has “robust plans in place to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission and serve our readers.”
