FRISCO, TEXAS — Whether you’re in class, the workplace, or even doing a computer assignment at home, everyone agrees that a brain break is always appreciated. Hence the creation of online games to keep users’ brains stimulated; these games include the classic 2048 (and all its versions), Block Blast, Cookie Clicker, and more. The New York Times (NYT) Games page is home to seven daily updated online mini-games to keep its audience entertained. One game that has taken the world by storm in particular is Wordle.
For those who don’t already know, Wordle is a strategic game that requires you to guess a five-letter word through color-based feedback given to your prior guesses. The daily challenge has captivated users all over the world and led to its purchase from original creator, Josh Wardle, by the New York Times Company. The NYT Games page also features other popular games such as Connections and The Mini which are also strategic word games. All of these are played together daily by over 10 million users.
“People enjoy something that they can share with the community no matter how small it is so even something as small as a common brain teaser that people can play and talk about with friends or something that you can do as a community” shared senior Adaora Amadife.
However, with growing popularity comes longer work hours, which can lead to workplace tensions between employees and employers if one feels they are experiencing unfair labor practices and not having their needs met. On Nov. 4, the NYT Tech Guild (the staff who produce the NYT Games and manage the NYT website) began a strike that ended on Nov. 11. The Tech Guild began the strike in hopes of achieving a stronger contract that negotiates better pay and job security after prior contract negotiations were stalled.
The NYT is no stranger to contract-based strikes; in 2022, the News Guild of New York, which represents NYT journalists, staged a 24-hour strike. Again, the reason was the company’s failure to establish a new contract, one that included wage increases, after one and a half years of negotiations. This strike only led to NYT management’s frustration with the News Guild due to the publicity of the negotiations and they believed the union members were being too extreme, resulting in refusal to compromise.
Now, two years later, history repeats itself with the Tech Guild strike. With over 600 union participants, the union members staged an eight-day-long walkout. This strike had many impacts on history, with it being one of the first US tech worker strikes. It is also the first News Guild work-stop to coincide with the presidential election in 60 years, making it incredibly significant.
Members of the Tech Guild urged consumers to stand in solidarity with them and stop playing the NYT games. Their movement garnered nationwide attention and thousands of people ended their Wordle streaks, stopping their participation in the games. Seeing this, the Tech Guild came up with an alternative platform to the NYT Games to keep people entertained during the strike. Guild Builds has eleven games and other features that are both entertaining and pro-strike. It also displays some of the chants protestors used while on the picket line.
Unfortunately, the strike wrapped up with no final decision being made. Protestors returned to work on Nov. 11, and on the side, contract negotiations continued. The Tech Guild has since opened a petition asking the NYT management to stop union busting and wants signatures from supporters.
“There are daily users like me, [so] we need [the NYT tech guild] to put [the games] out there and do all the configurations that it takes to put it out there, so they should probably be getting paid and have their needs met,” said one senior supporter Ranjana Ram.
As injustices continue in the workplace, more and more strikes will continue to occur. The NYT Tech Guild’s strike was just one of many examples of this situation that will continue to happen.
