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Hundreds of New York Times tech workers held a work stoppage last week to protest management’s attempts to prevent about one-third of tech employees, including product designers and data analysts, from voting in their upcoming election on union representation. They also protested other unfair labor practices, such as management illegally asking workers their views about unionizing and saying that workers would get more from management if they stopped organizing. I was fired up speaking to the workers at their rally Wednesday. These workers are innovating the future of journalism and they deserve a voice in their workplace!
Just a few hours after the work stoppage, the Daily Beast reported that the union-busting law firm hired by Times management had accidentally sent their union-busting strategy PowerPoint to a union staffer. The slides revealed management’s continued gaslighting of the workers—publicly saying it wants everyone to vote, while privately strategizing ways to slow down an election while dividing the workers. The workers annotated those slides and they are golden.
You gotta wonder about management when they’re spending hundreds of dollars an hour on a lawyer who has difficulties with email.
With about 600 members, the Times Tech Guild would be the largest union of tech workers to bargain for a contract in the U.S. and the biggest unit to join The NewsGuild in more than a decade. They will join about 1,300 New York Times employees who are already members of The NewsGuild of New York Local 31003.
Digital Producers of Gannett’s Atlantic Digital Optimization Team voted to form a union and join the NY Guild. The Atlantic DOT Guild consists of digital producers across five states that make up Gannett’s Atlantic region. Building union density in the Gannett chain — the biggest in the country — will strengthen us all. It will help save local news and improve working conditions across the industry.
The Democracy Workers Collective won voluntary union recognition last week from management of Democracy Works, a nonprofit focused on making voting as simple as possible. The new unit includes members from all areas of the group’s work — communications, fundraising, programs and software engineering. They join the News Media Guild Local 31222 and are also associated with the CWA’s Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA).
We urged the Department of Justice to adopt permanent protections for journalists covering protests. In a letter also signed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Black Journalists, we argued that the DOJ should prohibit arresting, threatening to arrest or using force against journalists.
Our union members continue to lead the way on pay equity, with the New York Mag Union releasing a pay study finding massive pay gaps between white workers, women and people of color. The median salary for women in the newsroom is about $27,000 less than for men and the pay gaps for women of color are the biggest. It’s a familiar story and one that we’re determined to address. Building a strong union and fighting for equity is the best way to do that.
Finally, we’ve got more training this month, beginning tonight: Bargaining a Safe & Healthy Return to the Office is set for 6-8 p.m. EDT. It will feature Marina Jabsky, an industrial hygienist with the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. Register here. Contract Campaign Training is set for 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 28. It will cover how to build powerful campaigns to win the contracts our members need. Register here.
In solidarity,
Jon Schleuss
President, NewsGuild-CWA
Photo at top: More than 300 New York Times Guild Tech members took part in a virtual rally during their work stoppage on Aug. 11.