As Election Day approaches and newsrooms prepare for days of non-stop reporting, union workers at The New York Times and The Baltimore Sun are using the busy period and additional readers to highlight workplace concerns.

Tech workers at the New York Times walked off the job early Monday morning and will continue to strike until they reach a contract agreement with the company; This process may extend until Election Day and beyond. The Times Tech Guild’s nearly 650 members include engineers, project and product managers, data analysts and designers whose work supports the Times’ digital operations, including its website, apps and “election needle.” Nearly 95% voted to authorize the strike in September.

Meanwhile, in Baltimore, more than 30 journalists from the Baltimore Sun Guild are attending a weeklong meeting. signature hit It started on Sunday. Stories penned by these reporters will be attributed to “Baltimore Sun Staff” to signal to readers that the staff is dissatisfied with the newspaper’s management.

The Times Tech Guild had been threatening strikes for months, claiming the company had engaged in unfair labor practices and refused to give workers a “fair” contract. The guild, which was founded in 2022 as one of the nation’s largest tech unions, has been bargaining for its first contract for more than two years.

“By doing this, we’re showing our labor power, and this is a moment where our labor is highly visible,” said Kait Hoehne, senior software engineer and union workplace representative. “We are working around the clock to keep the site up and running and keep all our services running, so this was our best chance to clearly communicate to the company what our contributions are, why we are important and why we deserve a fair contract.”

Current points of contention at the bargaining table include the “good cause” requirement, which prevents companies from disciplining or firing an employee without proper justification; remote work policies; and fees.

The union will continue bargaining with the company on Monday but is prepared to continue the strike on Election Day if the two sides cannot reach an agreement. If it happens, it would be the first walkout at the NewsGuild, the Tech Guild’s parent union, to coincide with a presidential election since workers at The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press went on strike in 1964.

About half of the Times Tech Guild works on programs that are “critical” to election coverage, according to the union. Throughout the election season, tech workers kept the Times’ site and apps running and were available to troubleshoot problems, Hoehne said. They also run Times offerings, such as games and cooking, that readers use to relax and avoid election news.

“Everything that users interact with digitally is the code that we write and maintain,” Hoehne said.

Times Tech Guild is urging readers to boycott Games and Cooking for the duration of the strike. Members of the Times Guild, which represents the paper’s journalists and business leaders, have vowed not to cut the jobs of striking tech workers.

Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha wrote in an emailed statement that the company looks forward to working with the guild to reach a fair contract and will continue to serve readers throughout the strike.

“We are in one of the most important news periods for our readers, and we have solid plans to ensure we can fulfill our mission and serve our readers,” Rhoades Ha wrote. “While we respect the union’s right to engage in protected actions, we are disappointed that our colleagues are currently striking; it is both unnecessary and contrary to our mission.”

Another division of the NewsGuild, the Baltimore Sun Guild, is also in the midst of contract negotiations — for the first time since 2007. (The union and the company had previously agreed to contract extensions that included minimal changes.) The guild claims Sun put forward proposals designed to weaken the union’s powers and deprive workers of “basic” protections. Bargaining committee member Hannah Gaskill said such a proposal would stop union dues from being automatically collected from wages and give that responsibility to the guild. He also discussed the union’s other proposals, touching on issues such as maintaining seniority and just cause during layoffs.

The union is also protesting the cascading changes that have occurred in the newsroom in recent months. The Sun, which was purchased in January by Sinclair Broadcast Group chairman and conservative political advocate David Smith, has been rerunning stories from Sinclair outlets since the summer. The union criticized some of these stories for not meeting the Sun’s editorial standards, and one journalist, federal court reporter Madeleine O’Neill, said: was fired after voicing concerns about the news in an internal Slack channel.

The Sun did not respond to a request for comment. Leaders have previously defended the decision to republish stories from Sinclair and other conservative outlets, saying editors made sure all content appearing on the Sun’s platforms met newsroom standards.

Gaskill, who reports on state government and politics and signs off, said the newsroom has lost more than 10 reporters in recent months, including O’Neill. He said the staffing changes left the remaining reporters “burned out” and confused. Last week, the newsroom dissolved its news department, reassigning the editor and three reporters on the team to different desks.

“It’s like we wake up every day and feel like we’re finally getting our feet wet, then management pulls the rug out from under us again,” Gaskill said. “There is a lack of consistency. It’s a chaotic situation. Confusing. “This is very frustrating.”

Christine Condon, Sun environment reporter and unit head, said all unionized journalists at the Sun had joined the signature strike, except for new hires who were still on a nine-month probationary period. Union staff advised new hires not to sign off after O’Neill was fired during his own probationary period.

Food journalist Amanda Yeager said she attended both to support her colleagues and to protest changes to the features of her old table. While he will still be able to cover food, Yeager said his stories will have a more business-focused, hard-hitting news angle. The disbanding of the features department sends the message that the company is no longer interested in the in-depth, human-interest stories that underpin the table, he said.

“There are a lot of positive things happening in Baltimore, and I think these types of pieces — the featured pieces — do a really good job of reflecting that,” Yeager said. “These are also really important in terms of fundraising and building relationships within the community. … Readers look forward to these types of stories.”

NewsGuild carried out work stoppages and visible worker protests an important part of the strategy In recent years. The SCNG Union, which represents journalists at Alden Global Capital’s 11 Southern California News Group newspapers, also threatened a strike on Monday but called for a work stoppage last week. interim agreement signed a new contract with the company.