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Hundreds of New York Times tech workers go on strike, disrupting US election coverage

Harry November 5, 2024

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Tech workers at the New York Times are striking on November 4, 2024. (Photo: New York Times Tech Guild)

On Monday morning, the day before the US election, hundreds of tech workers New York Times He launched a multi-day strike to fight for higher pay raises, improved working conditions, and to oppose discriminatory performance management practices.

More than 600 software engineers, product managers, digital designers and other technology employees; New York Times‘ digital infrastructure — He left work on Monday and set up guards outside the company’s headquarters.

The timing of the strike, coming just one day before the pivotal 2024 US election, underscores the important role these workers play in supporting the news giant’s digital reach. Organized by New York Times The strike is one of the first major job cuts by tech workers, according to the Tech Guild, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

In the statement made by the guild, it was stated that workers demanded “fair, equitable wages, job security and protected hybrid/remote work”. More than 95 percent of tech workers voted to allow a strike. Management’s latest offer includes a 2.5 percent annual pay increase, a 5 percent pay increase for promotions and a $1,000 endorsement bonus.

“Disrespect has reached a new level,” staff engineer Sarah Duncan said on Twitter/X before the strike. “NYT executives better come to their senses and bargain as if their products were based on this, because we are the ones who make and maintain them and we authorized the strike!”

The strike has the potential to disrupt order TimesThe high-stakes news cycle surrounding the 2024 U.S. elections, including presidential and congressional races, is bringing into sharp relief the dependence of the newspaper’s most important operations on its technology workforce.

For readers TimesThe strike is shutting down many of the digital tools that make the publication’s election coverage possible. Its digital architecture, maintained by these tech workers, delivers real-time election results, interactive maps, and in-depth data visualization for which the media company is known.

Tech workers also support major software platforms. Times, like gaming apps Word and its puzzle, cooking platform, podcast and other applications.

The strike is even more significant considering the role the strike plays. Timesthe so-called “registered newspaper” as one of the central tools of ruling class propaganda for over a century.

In recent decades, Times From the murderous invasion of Iraq to the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza to the US-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, it has played a key role in imperialist war propaganda and distortions of history, including the discredited 1619 Project.

A year full of disappointments

Fight of tech workers New York Times It is emblematic of a larger crisis shaking the media and technology industries, as well as the broader job carnage taking place in the auto industry and other sectors. In all these industries, workers face the brunt of management-driven cost cuts; This manifests itself as wage stagnation, increased workloads and job insecurity.

But workers are fighting back, including a courageous strike by more than 33,000 Boeing workers and other workers striking at defense and aerospace companies like Eaton.

Kait Hoehne, Times web engineer wrote on

He added: “ New York Times We have been incredibly successful over the last few years, thanks in large part to the hard work of our unit, but we are constantly under pressure; We are challenged to produce as much as possible at as little cost as possible.”

shares Times Although it recorded a 7 percent increase in quarterly revenues centrally through its digital operations and subscribers, it fell over 7.7 percent on Monday due to the strike. Net profit rose more than 20 percent to $64.1 million in the third quarter. The publication gained more than 260,000 paid subscribers last quarter; It has gained more than 5 million total paid subscribers to most of the major platforms for news, cooking, games and reviews.

“We were denied promotions, we were fired for no reason,” Hoehne added. “Women and people of color in our unit experience pay gaps and unfair performance evaluations. We can work to solve these problems together. We deserve a fair deal, and we deserve it now.” A tech worker was fired and retaliated against days before brain surgery.

technology workers Times They have faced a situation where negotiations have been stalled for more than a year, with the administration allegedly using delaying tactics and other methods to avoid reaching a deal. The bargaining impasse has led to accusations by workers and supporters that the media company’s executives are fundamentally unwilling to recognize the rights and contributions of its tech workforce, which plays a key role in delivering digital infrastructure. Times To run.

There have been mass layoffs at major technology and media companies in recent years; companies prioritize profits and shareholder returns over workforce stability. over 1,100 Times Workers had previously gone on strike in 2022.

Despite making significant profits in 2023, New York Times has resisted paying tech workers wages consistent with industry standards. The decision to strike speaks to the common sense of anger felt by many workers who feel that their contributions are vital but undervalued.

In recent years, tech workers have not limited their opposition to mass layoffs but have also spoken out against the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Microsoft tech worker Hossan Nassr was recently fired for protesting genocide and tech companies’ complicity in war and genocide. “I was fired from Microsoft,” Nassr said. viral tweet“Hours after we held a vigil to honor and commemorate the lives of Palestinians killed by the American-funded and Microsoft-supported Israeli genocide.”

The role of NewsGuild and CWA

NewsGuild represents approximately 3,000 media professionals in New York, including both editorial and technology staff. Times. However, despite the support given to workers’ unionization efforts through the Guild, Times Given the CWA’s selling out of AT&T workers, workers need to understand the role of the CWA union bureaucracy.

In AT&T’s case, CWA leadership enacted a contract that many workers felt was inadequate and failed to meet their basic demands. This betrayal shows that the CWA, and therefore the NewsGuild, cannot be trusted to support a real fight for the rights of tech workers. Times.

To fight for their demands and prevent sales, Times Workers should form rank-and-file committees. Such committees would enable workers to control their struggle democratically and prevent union leadership from making concessions that do not meet their needs. This approach would put decision-making power in the hands of workers themselves, allowing them to evaluate and direct their strategies and appeal to broader segments of the working class without fear of leadership-driven compromise or betrayal.

The International Workers’ Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) advocated the establishment of rank-and-file committees to enable workers to take control of their struggle. with Times With management showing little willingness to meet workers’ core demands, the creation of rank-and-file committees can serve as a powerful counterbalance, allowing workers to move forward without interference or diluting their demands.

After all, this strike means more than a dispute over wages and working conditions. Workers Times We must also recognize the publication’s role as a central propaganda organ for today’s capitalist ruling class.

The outcome of this important tech workers strike will also have repercussions on the tech and media industry. This struggle and its consequences, Times To tech and media workers everywhere, as well as to large sections of the working class who face the brunt of the ruling class’s assault on living standards and working conditions.

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Hundreds of New York Times tech workers go on strike, disrupting US election coverage

Harry

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Hundreds of New York Times tech workers go on strike, disrupting US election coverage

Harry

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