Unions representing New York Times workers are calling for a renegotiation of the company’s remote work policies after the paper announced new tracking policies.
The New York Times Guild and the Times Tech Guild both sent cease and desist letters to management over the new policy that would see workers return to the office three days a week and have their attendance tracked by badge swipes. The unions represent a majority of NYT workers.
The guild says that there is nothing in its contract, which was reached in May, about tracking badge swipes and is demanding to renegotiate that aspect of the policy. The tech guild, which is still without a contract, says that the policy violates their status quo, the terms and conditions agreed upon when the union was ratified last year, and must be renegotiated.
The policy that the unions object to would track employees’ attendance by their badge swipes. Meaning managers could look at data from workers using their badges to enter the building and flag workers who have not fulfilled their attendance requirements.
The letters show the disconnect between management and workers that is playing out in offices around the country. Amazon recently had its own controversy over badge swipes after workers claimed the policy was invasive.
Despite stay-at-home orders being a thing of the past, remote work remains popular among U.S. workers.
Many workers, especially office workers, work in a hybrid model and businesses have struggled in the past year to entice workers back into the office.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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