Posted on 09/17/2024 5:37:46 PM PDT by Libloather
Tech union workers at the New York Times have threatened to strike on Election Day over a bizarre list of demands that include pet bereavement leave, a four-day work week — and even a ban on scented products in break rooms, according to a report.
The Times Tech Guild’s laundry list of demands during its protracted two-year battle for a contract has also included a call for unlimited sick time, job security for non-citizens who are in the United States on work visas in the event of layoffs and mandatory trigger warnings when discussing news events, Semafor reported.
The union — which represents around 600 software engineers and other tech-oriented, non-editorial workers at the Times — voted last week to authorize a strike, dangling the prospect that the work stoppage could come during the peak traffic period around November’s battle for the White House, according to the outlet.
The Times, headed by chairman AG Sulzberger, said the guild’s economic demands would cost the company more than $100 million in compensation and benefits over the span of the proposed three-year contract, Semafor reported.
The company said that its employees already receive $10,000 in reimbursement for adoption or surrogacy expenses, $50,000 for fertility care and discounts on pet, home and auto insurance.
Members of the Tech Guild earn an average salary of $190,000 a year, which includes salary, bonuses and restricted stock options — about $40,000 more than their brethren in unions that represent journalists at the publication, according to the company.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Those demands might have been “bizarre” in 1974.
Artificial perfumes are air pollution, imho. Everyone’s clothes are reeking of this sickening overly-perfumed laundry soap and dryer sheets. Entire streets have unbreathable air at times. It’s a thing.
Does that include "ethnic" scents like curry or dead fish?
Or more likely it means White scents like Old Spice and Chanel #5?
So no Mary Kay saleswomen, then.
Replace them all with scabs and AI.
I agree!
Not allowing perfume is unfair to the trans women, a dress alone isn’t always convincing enough to hide the smell of stale beer and chili dogs.
I’d say we could do without ‘em.
It seemed like the workplace was a lot saner when people could smoke indoors.
Smokes helped GIs on the battlefield (but I don’t think they do that anymore) and even beekeepers can quiet an aggravated nest with smoke.
Ban the bans and maybe sanity will return.
I like the way you think!
Normally, yes. But since it’s the New York Times, I would encourage the union to demand even more crazy stuff. For starters:
- Demand that every worker gets free slice of pizza every hour, the style of pizza to be determined by the employee. Include a free drink, too.
- Demand that every Wednesday be “Bingo Wednesday”. No one works on Wednesday afternoons. Instead everyone plays bingo. Each game will have a $100 cash prize, paid by the employer.
As both a student and a professor I am in agreement with the ban on strong smelling perfumes etc. Several colleagues and an dozens of my students have had alergic reactions including hives, swelling, itching etc.
I'm looking forward to the news reports of mass suffocation on all these unbreathable streets.
How many of NYT’s software engineers are from out of the country?
I could not agree with you more. There’s just nothing wrong with pure clean air. This is one demand of the NYT’s union I agree with.
I really think that people should think about the issue in broad terms, as I think you have highlighted. Basically, I see the "sensitive people" thinking like this:
You did something at home.
Now you smell.
I don't like it.
I demand that you change.
Some people would nod if they think the topic is using Perfume as someone gets ready for work. But if the topic is foreign cuisine, then all of a sudden the "sensitive" person looks more like an Oppressor.
I think people ought to stop trying to control others. Perfume isn't illegal. You ought to be able to wear it in the workplace.
I agree with the ban on scents. Everything else is BS.
Worked in Silicon Valley before it went to hell. The line workers were typically Philipino women who had various microwaved fish parts for lunch. A lot of people headed out of the building for lunch. I’m sure they’d burn the place down if fish were banned.
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