Tech workers for the New York Timesoverwhelmingly voted in favor of forming a union. The National Labor Relations Board, (NLRB), made its decision on Thursday night.
The union won 404 to 88With 80 percent of the voters supporting it. Representative about 600Software engineers, data analysts, and other tech workers can be found in the New York Times Tech Guild, which is the largest tech union recognized by the NLRB in America.
“Now that our union is officially certified, we are ready to begin the work of building a better workplace alongside [New York Times Guild] [Wirecutter Union],” the Times Tech Guild wrote on Twitter. “We look forward to realizing the full potential of our [Times Tech Guild] mission.”
Workers were faced with a union-busting campaign by the New York Times Company. They refused to acknowledge the union when workers requested it. so last year.
Last month, leaked messages revealedMeredith Kopit Levien, CEO, sent a memo to employees disincentivizing workers from unionizing. She insisted that she’s not anti-union in general – just anti-union for the company’s tech unit, known as XFun. “This is an unproven experiment with permanent consequences,” Kopit Levien warned. Other managers sent workers messages on Slack encouraging them to vote “no.”
The company also showed hostility towards other unionized employees within the company. WirecutterWorkers staged a strike last summer because the company refused to guarantee raises keeping up with inflation. This would effectively amount to a pay cut. Workers eventually reached a dealThis would give workers an average 3 percent increase each year.
Workers have been illegally punished by management unionized with NewsGuild by excluding them from being able to take Indigenous People’s Day, Veterans Day and Juneteenth as paid holidays, the union alleged in a complaint filed with the NLRB in January. The Times Tech Guild also noted that last year, the company had announced a new policy that allowed non-union parents 20 weeks’ paid leave.
The NLRB stated earlier this year that New York TimesManagers violated federal labor laws by telling employees that they couldn’t publicly voice their support for their tech colleagues. These claims were denied by the company.
Tech workers labor leadersWe celebrated the win. “We’re just elated and really soaking in what this means, not only for us as tech workers at The TimesFor more information, please visit: The New York Times but also for the tech industry as a whole,” Nozlee Samadzadeh, a senior software engineer, told The New York Times.
“I think this is going to be the start of a wave of organizing in the tech industry,” Samadzadeh said. Google workers have formed a union, but have not filed for recognition from the NLRB, meaning that the company isn’t obligated to negotiate a contract with workers. According to data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics only about 3.7 percent of workersComputer and mathematical-related jobs are unionized.
Workers now look forward to bargaining for provisions “similar to what the newsroom unit has been fighting for — issues around pay, diversity and equity, a strong contract to make our workplace more fair,” Samadzadeh said.
