New York Times tech workers unionize, seek recognition from paper

Tech workers at The New York Times announced Tuesday that they have formed a union and will seek voluntary recognition from the paper.

The group of software engineers, product managers and data analysts will be represented by the NewsGuild of New York, which also represents more than 1,300 of the paper’s editorial and business staff.

The Times Tech Guild said in a statement Tuesday that it is seeking collective bargaining rights to address a number of challenges including “sudden or unexplained termination, opaque promotion processes, unpaid overtime, and underinvestment in diverse representation.”

A spokesperson for the Times confirmed that the company received the union’s request.

“Voluntary recognition is a significant decision,” the company said in a statement. “At The New York Times, we have a long history of positive and productive relationships with unions, and we respect the right of all employees to decide whether or not joining a union is right for them. We will take time to review this request and discuss it soon with representatives of the NewsGuild.”

The tech worker bargaining unit would be separate from the one that other Times employees are a part of.

While several newsrooms have unionized in recent years, many of their noneditorial staff members have not been included in initial units.

Tech has been a hotbed for worker activism in the past few years, although the most notable recent effort, a union drive at Amazon’s facility in Bessemer, Ala., appears to have fallen short, absent a successful challenge.