Peter Allen Clark
2022 saw an unprecedented rise in labor organizing in U.S. tech firms, with some workers pushing for collective rights just as a tanking economy changed the industry’s dynamics.
Yes, but: So far, tech’s labor activism has largely moved on the margins of the industry, with Amazon warehouse workers, Apple Store employees and video game QA testers leading organizing efforts, while engineers, product teams and other headquarters staff mostly shied away.
The staff at a Staten Island Amazon warehouse in April voted to form the retail giant’s first union in the U.S. after workers voted against unionization last year in Alabama.
Workers at several Apple Stores voted to unionize this year, including at Apple’s flagship store in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal in April, a store in Maryland in June and a store in Oklahoma City in October.
Collective action pressure within the video game industry has been building for years, with workers citing punishing schedules and hostile work environments. 2022 saw the first U.S. union formed in a big game publisher.
Between the lines: Those moves mean that Microsoft, which still hopes to close its acquisition of Activision Blizzard despite regulatory challenges, will soon become a union employer.
Zoom out: Tech’s outburst of organizing overcame decades of Silicon Valley resistance to labor unions.
Today, however, the wider public has warmed to unions.
What they’re saying: “The rate of organizing and the significance of the wins that we’re seeing is like nothing I’ve experienced in my lifetime,” Sara Steffens, secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America, which has been involved in several tech organization efforts, told Axios.
Steffens praised Microsoft’s approach as “showing the other tech companies that there’s a different way to do this, besides digging in and fighting — that you could actually support your workers rights to make this decision on their own through an orderly process.”
Tech’s labor organizing is still in its infancy.
Pandemic-driven labor shortages gave workers an unusual boost in leverage for a time, but that dynamic could change again as the economy slows down.
The bottom line: Steffens predicts that the “exponential” momentum built in 2022 will continue in 2023.
Courtesy: (Axios)
KYIV (AFP): Five people were killed Wednesday as Russia struck Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv and Donetsk…
COLOMBIA: Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced plans to cut diplomatic ties with Israel over…
WASHINGTON (AFP): The temporary pier being constructed by the US military to increase humanitarian aid…
NEW YORK (AFP): Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein faced one of his accusers in New…
F.P. Report KARACHI : President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday urged Sindh Chief Minister Syed…
F.P. Report ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has advocated for a…
This website uses cookies.