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New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

washingtonpost.com

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Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#311

Post by purple_ferret »

infecto wrote: post #45

Just cause feels like a stretch. Is that common in a lot of employment contracts? Feels like one of those rules that sounds like it could make sense but in reality it does not play out and you get this weird cohort of unproductive employees that you can never get rid of.

It's very common in union contracts.

They way it usually works is there is a probationary period that you can fire someone under for any reason (usually 90 days), but after that, supposedly you're more protected.

That said, in practice, it doesn't really prevent you from being part of a layoff or anything. You'll just get more notice and complaints.

Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#313

Post by loeg »

reaperducer wrote: post #252
dartos wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 2nd quote is kind of funny, but the first one isn’t. Tech generates more money than the Times. It makes sense that the employees should be paid to reflect that. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with high paid workers striking for even higher pay. It’s not like the suits don’t hoard bonuses for themselves.

Tech generates more money than the Times. It's the journalists that create the content for the tech end. Without them, there would be no Times tech employees.

Something like half of NYT subscribers are only there for the games (tech side).

Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#314

Post by fastball »

lolinder wrote: post #69
vijucat wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not OP, but I work in a company that is fully remote with a mix of offshore and onshore. It's possible we'd hire junior engineers locally for the offshore roles if we went fully local, but there's zero chance that we could offshore any of our existing onshore roles. This is for a few reasons: 1. Data law compliance. We can't let people outside the US see PII, which precludes them from participating fully in many supp…

For (2), this is why you are seeing more and more off-shoring from the US to South America.

Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#315

Post by purple_ferret »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #161

Have devs at any of the large tech companies ever tried to unionize? If not, why not?

The strength of a union is have a large organization with funds for lawyers and such.

Most of those organizations (like the UAW) don't focus on technology positions, so software people are left out in a lurch a bit.

NYTimes has savvy, vocal people in it that have someone overcome this.

Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#316

Post by Seattle3503 »

lolinder wrote: post #69
vijucat wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not OP, but I work in a company that is fully remote with a mix of offshore and onshore. It's possible we'd hire junior engineers locally for the offshore roles if we went fully local, but there's zero chance that we could offshore any of our existing onshore roles. This is for a few reasons: 1. Data law compliance. We can't let people outside the US see PII, which precludes them from participating fully in many supp…

So many people underestimate the cost of coordinating across global time zones.

Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#317

Post by heraldgeezer »

vijucat wrote: post #47
bwestergard wrote: post #3

I 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.

I have seen this before and it hit me. What is the point?

Is the end goal to just have management in a nice office and all production including hr, finance and IT overseas??

I mean those are office jobs, so they can WFH, so they can be in India or Philipines!! :)

Wow saving so much money!!!

Does a company work in a country or will they just take and take and take from the country and then not give jobs?

Almost making me nationalist (I am in the EU)

Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#318

Post by keybored »

infecto wrote: post #45

Just cause feels like a stretch. Is that common in a lot of employment contracts? Feels like one of those rules that sounds like it could make sense but in reality it does not play out and you get this weird cohort of unproductive employees that you can never get rid of.

It “feels like a stretch” and “sounds like it could make sense” and “but in reality it does not play out”. You’re just gesturing here. In turn the reply is either yes/no depending on if we agree with the general vibes you are putting out.

Re: New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

#320

Post by latentcall »

thefourthchime wrote: post #236
thinkingtoilet wrote: post #147

Earlier 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.

I think the issue is that it comes off as egregiously woke.

Feelings are woke. Caring about anything or anybody is woke.
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