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New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

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Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#131

Post by Manuel_D »

yieldcrv wrote: post #102
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't tell if this is sarcastic or not. There is a huge reason big tech can afford those compensation packages for employees, and the vast majority of companies can simply not afford that. As someone who's been both a union member and on the management side, it's frustrating when all sides don't realize that unions don't magically make money available to distribute to employees. There is certainly the argument that…

I wasn’t being sarcastic, NY Times is publicly traded too and is fully capable of the model where annual share grants are equal to the base salary, as opposed to a tiny sprinkle you’re supposed to be grateful for in leu of none at all. Their tech team isn't that big, their $8bn marketcap could handle the share grants. I had been critical of how wages haven't kept up with expenses for 30 years, while enamored by big t…

According to Google, the NY Times has a profit margin of 6-10% in most quarters. They're not exactly rolling in cash. Not to mention, there's a bunch of other teams at the NY Times that presumably want raises too. What's the justification for giving a raise to developers, but not to the writers that produce the company's main product?

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#132

Post by MisterBastahrd »

gamepsys wrote: post #2

This could be a blueprint for how other tech departments unionize, but I suspect NYT is a unique case because of their politics. Can such a left wing cornerstone really afford to look anti-union inside their own house? This gives the workers more leverage than they would otherwise have in other companies. In any of the places I worked at in the past an anti-union consulting firm would have been called in to bust thin…

Left wing?

The NYT is corporate wing. There's no charitable way to look at their reporting on the current election cycle and make the claim that they've treated the candidates equally. Donald Trump hasn't uttered a consecutive set of coherent sentences where he starts with an idea and finishes with an actual conclusion that isn't "and it'll be better / worse than ever before" in at least 5 years.

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#133

Post by taeric »

Manuel_D wrote: post #126
taeric wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw that mentioned. Was hoping someone had a link that was a bit more informative. Edit: This is also an older link?

It looks like this is the union's platform: https://nytimesguild.org/contract-campaign/

Thanks for the link. Hate that a lot of their demands seem to be to leverage things they want over positions not covered by their guild.

Is that actually a common thing that I just didn't know? I'd not expect a union to impact interviewing practices for all entry-level jobs somewhere.

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#134

Post by cvwright »

javagram wrote: post #46
oconnore wrote: post #25

As I understand it, the earliest they could actually strike would be 80 days from today, as per the Taft-Hartley act, putting the strike on November 29 (after the election). Something seems broken when a group is paid relatively fair wages ( https://www.levels.fyi/companies/the-new-york-times-company/... ), works 35 hours a week before overtime, and is talking about going on a strike. I don't think that fits with the…

NYT is the premier digital news outlet. Why should a principal SWE there get paid less than a senior SWE working on Google News, for instance? If NYT has the money it makes sense to me for the employees to ask for higher pay. What else is the original purpose of unions than to give workers power to bargain with the company?

I think the uncomfortable question for many here is, why should the SWE at Google get paid any more than the SWE at the NY Times?

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#136

Post by cool_dude85 »

Manuel_D wrote: post #131
yieldcrv wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn’t being sarcastic, NY Times is publicly traded too and is fully capable of the model where annual share grants are equal to the base salary, as opposed to a tiny sprinkle you’re supposed to be grateful for in leu of none at all. Their tech team isn't that big, their $8bn marketcap could handle the share grants. I had been critical of how wages haven't kept up with expenses for 30 years, while enamored by big t…

According to Google, the NY Times has a profit margin of 6-10% in most quarters. They're not exactly rolling in cash. Not to mention, there's a bunch of other teams at the NY Times that presumably want raises too. What's the justification for giving a raise to developers, but not to the writers that produce the company's main product?

I'm sure the tech guild would be happy for the writers' union to win contract raises too. I don't know why you think they wouldn't be.

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#137

Post by keybored »

gamepsys wrote: post #2

This could be a blueprint for how other tech departments unionize, but I suspect NYT is a unique case because of their politics. Can such a left wing cornerstone really afford to look anti-union inside their own house? This gives the workers more leverage than they would otherwise have in other companies. In any of the places I worked at in the past an anti-union consulting firm would have been called in to bust thin…

The NYT is as Left Wing as the journalistic profession is Ant-Establishment: Not in the slightest but they themselves constantly claim to be.

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#138

Post by [deleted] »

seneca wrote: post #15
neaden wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Can such a left wing cornerstone really afford to look anti-union inside their own house?" - The NYTimes isn't left wing and being anti-union is entirely within their wheelhouse. Now they won't come out and say "We don't like unions" all their issues will of course be why this specific union isn't a good idea at this specific time, but they'd never willingly accept a union unless they really don't think they have a…

> The NYTimes isn't left wing Allsides media bias rating for NYT is lean left[1], a -2.2 with -6 as the most extreme and 0 as neutral. Rating is left for their opinion section[2], a -4. 1. https://www.allsides.com/news-source/new-york-times 2. https://www.allsides.com/news-source/new-york-times-opinion-...

[deleted]

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#139

Post by cool_dude85 »

gamepsys wrote: post #57
oconnore wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

It means that even though there are members in the guild/union, the company NYT negotiates individually with every member of the guild/union instead of going through the guild/union. The entire worker benefit of the union is collective bargaining and NYT has rejected working with the unions.

No, once you have union representation here, the company can not legally negotiate individually with members. That's an unfair labor practice!

What actually happens is prevailing trends basically continue. Management can still hire people, etc. but must continue more or less as before unless they are willing to negotiate those specific changes.

Re: New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

#140

Post by faggotbreath »

[deleted] wrote: post #128
thegrim33 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well here's a challenge for you, we can easily put your viewpoint to the test: Go on the NYT website right now and find me a single article currently on the front page that's negative about leftist policies or politicians, or a single article that's positive about rightist policies or politicians. I bet you can't find any. Repeat this experiment, any minute, any hour, any day, any year, for the last 10 years, and you…

[deleted]

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