Over the last decade, technology companies have been easing past traditional oil and gas conglomerates to become the wealthiest industry in the world. And yet, despite that vast wealth, there is still a massive tech talent gap. And now there’s a growing trend of tech workers coming together to call for greater unionization in this sector. This is moving beyond petitions and signed letters from staff, to increased walkouts, employee resource groups, and even formal trade unions.
On January 4, the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) launched with 230 members, instantly making it the biggest tech union. A few weeks later, the membership of this American and Canadian union, which includes permanent, contracted and vendor company employees of Google, its subsidiaries, and other Alphabet Inc. brands, has quadrupled. Earlier this week, international Googlers across 13 countries formed a coalition of unions called Alpha Global.
Its first member is Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform in Greenpoint focused on creative projects. In February the company was the best-known technology company to have its employees unionize, with the union winning a majority vote among the 88 eligible nonmanagement employees.
The Kickstarter vote “jump-started a lot more conversations” among technology workers, who are almost uniformly nonunion, according to Grace Reckers, an organizer for the OPEIU.
“A lot of people argue that tech employees tend to be well-paid, with great benefits, and that is true for a lot of people. But there is a whole group of employees that is not the case for,” Reckers said. “We are trying to fight for equality for all employees.”
January 25, 2021
Despite the challenges of organizing during a deadly pandemic, working people across the country (and beyond) continue organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life. This edition begins with:
Tech Workers Union Local 1010 Launched to Raise Standards for Tech Industry: Workers in the tech industry will get a boost with the launch of Tech Workers Union Local 1010, a new initiative from the Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU). The new local s mission is to raise industry standards and provide tech workers with a better future. OPEIU President Richard Lanigan said: “OPEIU has been investing resources in supporting tech workers as they organize to gain rights and raise standards in the workplace for many years, but now we’re focusing and strengthening that effort by having an organization dedicated to, created for and run by tech workers who understand the unique challenges facing the industry. We’re proud to be building solidarity with working peo
OPEIU s Tech Workers Union Local 1010 Statement on the Tech Workers Bill of Rights
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NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2021 OPEIU s Tech Workers Union Local 1010 is pleased to today join a coalition of tech industry employees, unions and solidarity networks in presenting the Tech Workers Bill of Rights, a set of principles to create an equitable future by raising the standards for all workers across the industry whether full-time office workers who deserve a say in the products they build, warehouse workers facing unsafe conditions or gig workers seeking security in tech s competitive landscape.