We are the tech workers of The New York Times. We work behind the scenes to make the world’s most trusted news source the best it can be. Together, by forming a new unit in the Times-Guild of New York, we’re joining our coworkers in an effort to build a fair and equitable workplace.
Our Mission
We choose to work at The New York Times because we care deeply about our mission. The same values that brought us here — integrity, respect and collaboration — compel us to organize.
We believe that a vibrant and healthy workplace is not only compatible with our mission, it is essential to it. To truly uphold the ideals The Times espouses, to make “society stronger and more just,” we must champion them with the same tenacity and dedication in practice as we do on the page. By forming a union, we can address some of our most pressing issues:
We strive for excellence, but recognize that it is predicated on fairness and transparency around compensation. Excellence also comes over time: it is built through clear, equitable promotion processes.
We strive for a curious and collaborative work environment, but understand that can only be achieved through independence, as well as clear roles and responsibilities.
We strive for a workplace characterized by integrity and respect, one that is diverse, representative, and equitable. One enriched by a plurality of voices.
Forming a union empowers us to pursue these goals, and allows us to stand with our peers where they have previously stood alone.
We already have 1,300+ colleagues in the NewsGuild at The Times. We’re proud and excited to join them and thousands of other tech workers, who are standing up for themselves like never before.
A strong majority of tech workers at The Times announced our union drive in April and requested voluntary recognition. Times management responded with a concerted anti-union campaign and have recently escalated to illegal tactics, so we have filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board.
We stand in solidarity with our colleagues who are being targeted, and are asking you to show your public support. Join us in calling on CEO Meredith Levien to stop union busting and recognize our union.
We are forming a union because we care about The New York Times and want to make it the best company it can be. To do this, we pledge to stand in solidarity as an organizing committee.
Coming into the union, I had my own list of improvements I wanted to see and things I thought should be included in our first contract. As I continued to meet with other members, I noticed just how much of the picture I was missing. I left each conversation and panel with a new understanding of what some of my colleagues were struggling with or fighting for, but also an overwhelming sense of solidarity in wanting to help each other. Each one of us has visible and invisible identities that are often overlooked by management when new processes and policies are introduced. Whether that overlooking is intentional or not, we deserve to have the opportunity for our voices to be heard, for our working conditions to be beneficial and accommodating for all, for inclusion to be the norm and not an afterthought. Through the union we can ensure underrepresented groups are supported and protected, because we are the union. I am excited to build a unit that listens to, includes, and advocates for all of its members!
Alberta Devor and Rob Ruenes, Members of Alphabet Workers Union, New York Chapter
We’re proud to stand in solidarity with the unionized NYT tech workers and publicly welcome them into CWA. We’re thrilled to see our fellow tech workers building power in the labor movement. Organizing will not only help NYT workers fight for their own rights, but will also improve conditions for workers across our field.
Bill Baker, New York Times
I have spent most of my career being part of a union. I can say that the few years that I was not were the most troubling. Being in a union has given me a sense of authority over my working conditions. It has allowed me to be vocal about issues at work without fear of reprisal. It's comforting to know that my colleagues and I have common interests that bond us together to make our workplace better for everyone. When NYT had no interest in analyzing salaries for pay disparities, our union used the language in our contract to gather the information needed to do our own study. This resulted in pay increases for many and a new corporate compensation committee with pay studies done more frequently. The Guild's ability to speak collectively on issues pertaining to DEI over the years has 'inspired' management to create some of the policies that are now in place. When management cut pensions for excluded employees we were able to keep ours because of our union. Each time there is an attempt to erode or violate our contract, either by creating a multi-tiered salary structure for reporters or an attempt to layoff hundreds of copy editors, I am reminded that if it were not for Guild members who spoke up and walked out, the Times would impose their will without resistance. For these reasons and more, I am a proud Guild member and am looking forward to the day that your vote will give us even more voice in our workplace together!
Haley Willis, New York Times
I am incredibly proud to be active in a Guild that has continually been at the forefront of fighting for the issues most important to me: diversity, equitable compensation, affordable healthcare. I have personally directly benefited from organizing with my colleagues using our Guild contract, winning raises for myself and several other colleagues who were wrongly classified and unfairly compensated. I admire the passion with which the Times Tech Guild has continued to push forward in the face of the company's union-busting tactics. With the election approaching, I only encourage you all to continue doing so. Being on the other side, I can't emphasize enough the community and safety that comes with having a union — it's that strength that has allowed us to be so vocal about how we can make this a better workplace, and that's been invaluable.
Jenny Vrentas, New York Times
Never forget the power of collective action: Together, you really can change your workplace and your industry. I experienced this firsthand as the unit chair of the Sports Illustrated Union, where we earned a contract that creates a more equitable pay structure with a $64,000 salary floor, protects the integrity of our work and greatly improves the company's diversity, equity and inclusion standards. I'm proud to work now for another Guild shop with a strong contract, where the workers have a say in how things are run, and eagerly await the Times Tech Guild officially having the same.
We’ve spoken with nearly all of you about how unions work and what a unionized workplace would mean for us. Below is a brief overview. Please contact us, attend one of our upcoming general meetings, or reach out to any organizing committee member with questions — we’d love to hear from you.
Our union is a democratic community of workers coming together to improve our working conditions and benefits. Once our union is recognized, we will have the right to bargain for a contract, called a collective bargaining agreement, that will hold management accountable for things like pay equity, diversity and job security.
Collectively, we are the union, and we decide what’s best for us.
Why are we organizing?
We have more power and leverage together than we do as individuals. Through a union, we can negotiate a legally binding contract that spells out our working conditions for all to see, and to which the company must adhere.
Without a union or a contract, our employer can unilaterally change our working conditions or fire us at any time, without cause. Our employer also has no legal obligation to respond to at-will employees’ feedback and concerns.
What is the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)?
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a federal agency that is responsible for enforcing labor law, including supervising elections to form new unions and investigating unfair labor practices. Now that our union has filed a petition with the NLRB, the company is legally required to participate in the election process.
What does an NLRB election entail?
Before the NLRB election can begin, there must be an agreement on the terms of the election. This is called a stipulated election agreement (or stip), where both sides agree on who is eligible for the union and how the vote will take place. If NYT management chooses to fight us over the scope of our bargaining unit, they can force a hearing to resolve the dispute, which would add several months of delays and open up the possibility of future lengthy appeals.
Once the unit is defined, either by agreement or a hearing decision, NLRB ballots will be mailed out to the latest address each worker has on file with their employer. Ballots will be due back within several weeks. When the union obtains more than 50% of the votes cast, the union is legally formed. Protections like status quo go into effect immediately, and the employer has a legal duty to bargain in good faith with us over our working conditions.
How does the Times Tech Guild describe the eligible unit?
When the Times Tech Guild filed our election petition with the NLRB, we submitted a community of interest definition with the following language:
All full-time and regular part-time engineers, analysts, designers, project managers, product managers, and assistants who perform work for the New York Times’ websites and mobile applications, wherever located in the United States.
A copy of this form was submitted to Times management when we filed. About a week after the filing, the NLRB hosted a pre-hearing conference to better understand the disagreement over unit definitions. Several members of our unit and a NewsGuild lawyer were on hand, but Times management did not ask any clarifying questions before, during, or after that meeting.
Why is management seeking to divide the unit?
Recently, a member of management’s legal team accidentally sent a NewsGuild staffer a presentation outlining strategies to reduce the size of our unit. These slides included their goals (“seek the smallest bargaining unit that is justifiable”) and research (a chart attempting to illustrate general sentiment amongst eligible employees).
According to their own document, proposing a unit that only includes engineers has the “lowest chance of [winning] in an NLRB hearing” and also has the lowest chance of preventing a union altogether.
Given all this, we believe management has chosen to divide up our unit to cause tension and stall the inevitable. This strategy demonstrates a lack of understanding of how organized our group is, and also directly contradicts management’s public statements over the last few months.
We are truly disappointed to see our leaders resorting to these disrespectful tactics that misrepresent our position. We will continue to fight for an inclusive unit that gives all of our organized colleagues the rights they deserve.
Why join the NewsGuild?
The NewsGuild of New York represents over 3,000 media workers, including our colleagues in the newsroom, security, TimesCenter, parts of advertising, and other departments — totalling over 1,300 Times employees. The NewsGuild international is also the largest union for news professionals in the country, representing over 20,000 journalists, media workers, and other workers.
Is there a difference between the existing Times Union and the Tech Union?
The existing Times Guild includes over 1,300 Times employees from departments across the company. As the tech workers of The New York Times, we are thrilled to join our coworkers in solidarity by becoming members of the same union — the NewsGuild of New York.
We will stand in solidarity with the Times Guild during their contract negotiations, however, in order to address the unique issues that we face as tech workers, we decided to bargain our own separate contract and form an independent unit within the NewsGuild of New York.
Who is eligible for the union?
All non-managerial employees in engineering, product management, project management, design, QA, and data analysis whose primary work location is in the United States are eligible for our bargaining unit.
If you aren't a part of these groups and would like to form a union as well, please reach out to us! We'll support you in every way we can.
Can managers join the union?
Managers are ineligible to join our union under the National Labor Relations Act.
This eligibility is not based on job title, but on power and responsibility. By law, managers must have at least some of the following responsibilities: hiring, firing, evaluating, approving schedules and time off, and the ability to promote, discipline, or transfer other employees.
For instance, an Analytics Manager may have “manager” in their title, but if they have no direct reports nor ability to fire or hire employees, they are eligible to join a union.
What will we be bargaining for?
That’s up to all of us! After we are recognized, we will elect our unit leadership, who will send surveys, talk with every colleague, and hold meetings to discuss bargaining priorities. Everyone will have the opportunity to impact the bargaining process, and the more voices heard, the stronger our union will be.
Here is a brief, non-exhaustive list of what we can bargain for:
Salary transparency, minimum salaries for each role, and equitable compensation.
Standards for career growth, hiring, and promotion processes.
Access to company data on recruitment, promotion, and retention of underrepresented groups.
Increased accessibility support for coworkers with disabilities.
Just cause protections against discipline or firing without reason.
Mandated severance benefits and notice for layoffs.
A pension plan, on-call compensation, overtime pay, and reduced healthcare costs.
Consistent remote/work-from-home policies.
How can we fight for diversity and inclusion through a union?
We want our union to be a force for making our workplace as inclusive as possible. That means creating an environment where our most marginalized colleagues feel supported, are equitably compensated for their work and have opportunities for long, rewarding careers at The Times.
With a union, we will have the legal right to request and receive data on hiring, compensation, retention and performance from our employer. This will allow us to detect patterns and disparities in employee treatment, as Times Guild members have done for employee compensation and performance evaluations, and to propose contractual solutions to remedy those disparities.
In our contract, we can also push for provisions to hold management accountable to their diversity commitments—like requiring that a minimum percentage of candidates for open roles come from underrepresented backgrounds.
All of this will be in partnership and collaboration with the amazing groups we already have working on these issues, like the Women’s Network, Black@NYT and Times Out. We look forward to working in solidarity to put our collective ideas into legally enforceable language.
How do we secure recognition of our union?
A majority of eligible tech workers have already signed union cards voting to form a union. We have asked The Times to voluntarily recognize our union, as The Times did with the Wirecutter Union in 2019. To officially certify our union, a neutral third party would conduct a card check to confirm that we do in fact have a majority of our unit’s support. Once we are certified, status quo will protect our current working conditions and we can begin negotiating our first contract.
Can we be retaliated against?
United States labor law prohibits the company from retaliating against, threatening, or coercing employees due to organizing activity. As an added measure of protection, every member of the Organizing Committee has pledged to stand with anyone affected if The Times were to break the law.
If I join the union, will I lose the salary, bonuses, and benefits I’ve accrued?
No - after we are recognized, we begin contract negotiations with our existing benefits as a baseline, negotiating up from there.
Our aim is to ensure each employee is being paid a fair minimum rate, and we are going to establish pay floors (not pay ceilings).
Additionally, United States labor law prohibits the company from retaliating against employees due to organizing activity. This protection includes punitive measures like taking away benefits or vacation. It's also important to note that raises, promotions, and bonuses can (and must) still happen while we negotiate a contract.
How will our union work once it is formed?
Once we’re recognized, everyone who has signed a card will elect our leaders. A bargaining committee will also be appointed and will negotiate our first contract based on our shared priorities. We will elect shop stewards, who will be trained to represent coworkers, ensure status quo (and eventually our contract) is enforced, and organize around issues that come up in the workplace. The Contract Action Team will be responsible for regular communication between the general membership and our bargaining committee to ensure everyone’s voices are heard in the process.
Guild staff will be there every step of the way to give us training, guidance, legal support and other resources that will ensure we have the tools we need to fight for our priorities and values together.
I have a good relationship with my manager. Will a union make the workplace more antagonistic?
That’s not our goal. We want to make a workplace that’s better for everyone, and many of us have positive relationships with our direct supervisors. Our goal is to create consistent policies that are equitably enforced, so that professional disputes don’t turn into personal conflicts between bosses and subordinates.
How much are dues?
NewsGuild dues are currently 1.75% of base pay as of August 2021. Our dues ensure we have the resources we need to have a strong union.
Dues cover the cost of bargaining and enforcing contracts, legal fees, training and membership development, office space, and more. Dues also support our fellow NewsGuild members bargaining for their own first contracts, just as other shop’s dues will support us through our own negotiations. We will not pay dues until we have voted to ratify our first contract. NewsGuild of New York members have consistently fought for contracts with raises and benefit improvements that more than offset the cost of dues.
I'm interested! How can I get involved?
Great! The best way to get involved is to join one of our membership meetings, where we discuss how to improve our workplace and build a community together. Once we are recognized, you can also get involved as a shop steward, a member of the Contract Action Team, or setting up a union caucus or committee around a specific issue. If you're interested in joining the bargaining committee, please let us know!
Please fill out this form to receive notifications for our upcoming meetings. You can also show your immediate support for the union by signing a membership card (The New York Times - Tech).
