Also covered on The Verge:
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287600/new-york-times-t...
New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
191–200 of 1001 posts
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#192Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
>I can’t help but think those people don’t understand that $100k is very much the new $45k of the 2000s, and has much less purchasing power than the latter did at the time. False. $45k in 2005 is only $73k today, when adjusted for inflation[1]. Even if you use the most generous interpretation of "2000s" to mean 2000, that's only $82k. [1] https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
All of my bills say “bull shit”. I’m sure getting it that low means ignoring housing, and making everything in the “basket of goods” worse.
>I’m sure getting it that low means ignoring housing
No. https://www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheets/owners-equivalent-rent-an...
>and making everything in the “basket of goods” worse.
Given that food, energy, and shelter makes up the bulk of the CPI, I'm not sure how this can be done. The most plausible thing I can think of is "food is less nutritious than before", but I doubt that's an actual factor. "Food is getting less nutritious so I'm forced to shop at whole foods" isn't exactly a popular sentiment.
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#194I totally support their demand for remote work. NY Times should hire more remote! They could save a lot by hiring offshore without hassle of providing benefits or fighting unions.
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#195The time to do this was 10 years ago. Best of luck. Half of these jobs won't exist in a couple years.
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#196I am also a member of the union at NPR, on the subway headed to the picket line in solidarity right now. Happy to answer any questions. I encourage everyone to respect the picket line and get your news elsewhere until the workers get a deal. The Times Workers are holding the line against arbitrary return to office mandates and for Just Cause protections. The vast majority of HN consists of developers, designers, QA,…
Genuine question: what prevents the NYT from offshoring these jobs if they can be done from home? I feel for you, as a fellow worker, but unless there is something hyper-local about the job such as regulatory requirements or trust issues with IP protection, the jobs will go to the ones who work hard without complaining too much.
Time zone requirements will destroy your retention.
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a foreigner it’s so alien to me that such a provision isn’t mandated by law anyway, and that there isn’t broad support in the population to restrict employers from firing at will… wild.
An an American it's hard for me to imagine how companies could ever work with universal protections from firing at will. What if you're running a painting business, and there's a downturn in construction. Do you just have to pay people to do nothing, since they haven't done anything wrong and aren't allowed to be fired? Or what if a large company needs to make a strategic pivot and fire some employees to hire others…
I don't think a lack of imagination is a particularly American trait.
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a foreigner it’s so alien to me that such a provision isn’t mandated by law anyway, and that there isn’t broad support in the population to restrict employers from firing at will… wild.
An an American it's hard for me to imagine how companies could ever work with universal protections from firing at will. What if you're running a painting business, and there's a downturn in construction. Do you just have to pay people to do nothing, since they haven't done anything wrong and aren't allowed to be fired? Or what if a large company needs to make a strategic pivot and fire some employees to hire others…
In this scenario, you would go through redundancy processes instead of simply firing people.
Depending on the laws and the country, it involves consultations, handing out offers for alternative roles in the company, mandatory notice periods and timelines, and severance pay.
Or what many multinationals do, you offer non-legally-redundancy severance deals by paying the employees out.
Severance already happens in many industries in the US, however it’s generally only for those paid very well, which arguably need the legal protections less. So such laws are designed to level the play field and prevent abuse of the system. For instance, if you make an accountant redundant, you can’t go and hire another one for a period of time because that means the role was required the whole time. If you want to remove a specific person from a role, you fire them for cause (say bad culture fit or inadequate work) or offer them a payout to leave.
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
People will laugh at it, but pet bereavement should absolutely be a thing. The saddest I've ever been in my life was when my dog died. Perhaps seven days is a bit much, but when you go to the bargaining table you don't start with what you want, you start past that point then negotiate down.
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> I won't laugh at the pet bereavement leave request, but I most certainly will laugh at the ask for unscented cleaning products. What's the point then?
The point of cleaning products is to clean, which can be done perfectly well with no scent. If they're just covering up uncleanliness with a pretty scent, then they're not cleaning.
Some people have serious allergies to common scents, and some people just find them unpleasant and slightly nauseating.
Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good luck. I'm curious what you feel about the following: These days news publications generally have a pretty weak business model and a lot of competition. Does it still make sense to have a union in this case? Why?
Unions are about more than compensation, they can also fight for working conditions, like the ability to work from home and the processes involved in termination, which are both at issue in this strike. Contrary to perhaps popular misconception, if the business is unprofitable, unions aren't going to demand a larger piece of a disappearing pie. If there isn't money to be paid out, there's nothing to fight over. Leadi…
Uh the UWA would beg to differ. American production has only been shrinking as they have demanded more.