Unionization in the tech sector

A tech union is a trade union for tech workers typically employed in high tech or information, community, technology services sectors. Due to the evolving nature of technology and work, different government agencies have conflicting definitions for who is a tech worker. Most definitions include computer scientists, people working in IT, telecommunications, media and video gaming.[1][2][3] Broader definitions include all workers required for a tech company to operate, including on-site service staff, contractors, and platform economy workers.[4]

Israel

Cellular, Internet and High-Tech was founded in 2014 as an affiliate of the Israeli trade union confederation Histadrut.[5][6] It represents 3,000 workers through the collective bargaining agreement it has with 6 high-tech firms including the Israel divisions of SAP and Visonic.[7] A further 200 employees of Surecomp are organized through the other Israeli federation, Koach LaOvdim.[7]

People's Republic of China
See also: 2010 Chinese labour unrest and 996.icu

Mainland China

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially the only trade union in the PRC and acts as an extension of the state's interests. It either co-opts or restricts independent labour organising.[8][9] Most trade union chairs in China are company managers, party cadre members and appointed, rather than elected. However, since 2010, due to increased labour militancy and strikes, workers have been able to demand more worker representation in union elections.[10]

In 2018 Jasic Technology retaliated against a worker led union drive. Over 100 students and workers were arrested including members of Jasic Workers Solidarity Group in what became known as the Jasic incident.[11]

In March 2019, Chinese tech workers mobilized, after an anonymous person uploaded a repository named 996.icu to GitHub. 996 refers to 9AM to 9PM, 6 days a week or 72 hour work cycle.[11] Over 230,000 tech workers, mainly in China 'starred' the repository, making it one of the largest tech actions in China.[12] US based Microsoft (which own GitHub) employees signed a letter in support of the 996 movement, opposing censorship.[13]

Hong Kong

In the context of the pro-democracy 2019 protests, tech workers founded the Hong Kong Information Technology Workers' Union and developed a database of sympathetic employers who are supportive of the protests.[14] The union was later dissolved due to widespread state repression in Hong Kong following the protests.[15]

Romania

Sindicatul IT Timișoara (Romanian IT Union) represents 3,000 IT and outsourcing workers at Alcatel-Lucent, Wipro, Accenture and Alto since 2009.[16]

Serbia

The Association of Internet Workers is a trade union of internet-based platform workers in Serbia.[17]

United Kingdom

The first dedicated union branch for tech workers was launched by members of London chapter of Tech Workers Coalition. The branch is called United Tech and Allied Workers and is affiliated with Communication Workers Union.[18] In 2018, the British chapter of Game Workers Unite became a legally recognised union with the IWGB for all video game workers.[19]

United States

Tech unionization is historically relatively new in the United States, with the exception of telecommunications, primarily organized with the Communications Workers of America. The overall private job sector has a historically low union density rate of 7 percent, with the tech industry being even lower than that.[20]

Unionization has picked up speed since 2019 as several unions have successfully launched initiatives to organize tech workers, such as the Communications Workers of America, United Steel Workers and Office and Professional Employees International Union.

National Unions Actively Organizing in Tech

In month 2019, the United Steel Workers organized HCL workers who were sub contractors for Google Pittsburgh and subsequently launched.[21]

In January 2020, the Communications Workers of America launched the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA)[22] to organize tech, game, and digital workers in the US and Canada. According to the CODE-CWA website "thousands of tech, game, and digital workers" have organized with over a dozen CODE-CWA organizing campaigns, including several certified unions with collective bargaining rights.[23]

Within its first year[24] the CODE-CWA campaign unionized workers at Glitch,[25] Blue State Digital,[26] the Alphabet Workers Union at Alphabet, and game studio Voltage Entertainment.[27] In 2021, workers at Do Better Tech,[28][29] Mobilize,[30] Medium,[31] NPR,[32][33][34] Mapbox,[35] Catalist,[36] Change.org,[37] EveryAction,[38] and New York Times Tech staff launched public unionization drives,[39] with civic tech companies Mobilize, Catalist and Change.org receiving voluntary recognition from their employers.[36][37] CODE-CWA has also supported workers at Activision Blizzard by filing Unfair Labor Practice charge with the NLRB.[40] CODE-CWA has also organized the first table-top game company at Pathfinder and Starfinder developer Paizo.[41][42][43]

In January 2021, Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) launched Tech Workers Union Local 1010 as a result of its success unionizing Kickstarter.[44] In August, workers at Code for America went public with their union drive with OPEIU.[45]

Recent US Tech Unionization Firsts

In 2019, workers at HCL with the United Steel Workers were the first to organize an office based tech union.[4]

In 2020, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) were the first to launch a national tech and game union organizing campaign, the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA). The CODE-CWA campaign has since organized the first successful strike in the game sector of the tech industry at Voltage Entertainment,[27] the first table-top game company at Pathfinder and Starfinder developer Paizo,[41][42][43] the first voluntary union recognition in the US tech industry at Glitch, the first ratified collective bargaining agreement at Glitch,[46] the first worker-owned cooperative in the tech industry at Do Better Tech,[28][29] and the first mass-voluntary membership union at a major modern tech company at Alphabet.[47]

Recent US Tech Industry Unions and Union-Organization by Company
Company Unit Name Founded Local Union Status Campaign Description
Big Cartel Big Cartel Workers Union December 2021 OPEIU Local 1010 Seeking voluntary recognition A majority of workers at the e-commerce platform signed union cards with OPEIU Local 1010, calling for voluntary recognition by December 6, 2021.[48]
Code for America August 2021 OPEIU Certified In August, workers of Code for America went public with their union drive with OPEIU.[45]
Alphabet Alphabet Workers Union January 2021 CWA Local 1400 Active On January 4, 2021 over 400 employees of Alphabet (parent company of Google) formed the Alphabet Workers Union (CWA Local No. 1400) with a rare solidarity union model. Alphabet Workers Union is notably open to non Alphabet employees, including Temporary, Vendor, and Contract workers, who make up almost half of the workforce.
Glitch n/a March 2020 CWA Local 1101 Ratified Bargaining Agreement Glitch staff announced intentions to unionize with the CWA Local 1101 as part of CODE-CWA in early 2020. The company voluntarily recognized their union. Around the same time, the company laid off a third of its staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.[49][50] Glitch signed a collective bargaining agreement in March 2021, the first in the American tech industry.[51]
Instacart February 2020 UFCW Local Defunct 14 Instacart employees voted to form a union with UFCW, in the first app based union in the nation in February 2020.[52][53] One year later, in January 2021, Instacart announced it is laying off 2,000 employees including all 10 remaining unionized workers.[54]
Kickstarter Kickstarter United February 2020 OPEIU Local 153 Certified In February 2020, Kickstarter employees voted to unionize with Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153.[55]
HCL Technologies September 2019 USW Local Ratified Bargaining Agreement In 2019, 80 vendor contractors of Google at the outsourcing company HCL Technologies voted to form a union with Pittsburgh United Steel Workers, making it the first successful tech union for office based workers.[56] Two years later, HCL and 65 workers ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement.[57]
npm, Inc. March 2019 In March 2019, 5 employees of npm, Inc. were laid off, in retaliation for organizing a union.[58] In July, npm settled with three employees after they filed a complaint with the NLRB.[59]
Lanetix Washington-Baltimore News Guild (CWA) In January 2018, 15 employees of logistics startup company Lanetix were fired, 10 days after they petitioned to form a union with Washington-Baltimore News Guild (CWA).[60] In November, the company agreed to pay $775,000 to the 15 former employees after the NLRB found they retaliated.[61][62]

Additional & Historic US Tech Union Organizing

From 1974 to 1983, the United Electrical (UE) formed a Silicon Valley Electronics Organizing Committee (EOC), which was made up of 1 full time staffer and a dedicated network of rank and file from National Semiconductor, Siltec, Fairchild, Siliconix, Semimetals, and others.[63] They had a newsletter called "The Union Voice" in three languages English, Spanish and Tagalog.[64]

Between 1970 and 2016, a patchwork of IBM worker initiatives formed including the National Black Workers Alliance, IBM Workers United and Alliance@IBM.[65]

From 2014 to 2020,[66][67] various Amazon worker initiatives have unsuccessfully sought union recognition in different Amazon warehouses, most recently in Bessemer, Alabama.[67] In 2021, members of Teamsters members voted at a convention to form an 'Amazon division' to make it a strategic priority.[68][69]

See also

References
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