Tech workers at The New York Times voted Thursday to certify their union in a National Labor Relations Board election, making it one of the largest tech unions in America.
The workers voted in favour, 404 to 88, and easily obtained the necessary majority of the votes cast. A win means the union, the Times Tech Guild, can begin negotiating a contract with management.
“We’re just thrilled and really realize what this means, not just for us as tech workers at The Times and for The New York Times, but for the tech industry as a whole,” said Nozlee Samadzadeh, a senior software engineer. . “I think this will be the start of a wave of organization in the tech industry.”
Ms Samadzadeh said the union was keen to sign a contract on issues “similar to what the newsroom has been fighting for – issues of pay, diversity and equality, a strong contract to make our workplace fairer.”
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for the Times, said The Times looked forward to working with the union to draft a contract.
“We continue to believe that this election process was critical so that our colleagues could learn more about the union, hear both sides of the argument and ultimately make an informed decision,” she said.
The Times Tech Guild, which represents about 600 software engineers, product managers, designers, data analysts and other employees, asked The Times in April for voluntary recognition. The Times declined, so the matter went to a formal Labor Council election.
The labor council alleged in a complaint in January that The Times management had violated federal labor law by preventing some workers from showing support for the union. A Times spokeswoman said at the time that the company disagreed with the allegations.
The Times Tech Guild is represented by New York’s NewsGuild, which also represents the editors of The New York Times and Wirecutter, the company’s product review website. In 2019, The Times voluntarily recognized the Wirecutter union.
