We’re living in an age of fear and uncertainty with layoffs happening weekly. AI is often being cited, whether it is the real reason or not. Tech work is being devalued despite the reality that tech companies ability to get anything done if labor were to stop, strike, organize and speak up about what happens with their role in the future would prevent the business from getting work done. Workers have a lot more power than they realize. The management class is intoxicated with greed and power. ICs and rank and file workers are what makes the business happen.
This is already looking to be one of the largest wealth distribution periods in history to the 0.1%. And yet, we are all seem to not be putting up a fight. I’ve heard people say “unions won’t work”, what would work then. Let’s discuss. How do we as tech workers want this to play out. What would the ideal future look like to us, not CEOs?
The shape of what the resistance could be a strike, a union, something else entirely. If there is already something brewing, I want to join and take an active role. If there is not, then let’s get some smart people together to figure out how best to organize. I understand we put AI back into a bottle. But, surely there is some collective action to take to allow workers have some basic protections and reap some of the benefits of AI efficiency.
The data I've seen largely show that union membership is highly correlated with better pay, benefits, and working conditions. It seems clear to me that individuals are at an extreme disadvantage in wage/salary negotiations due to the enormous information asymmetry present when the counterparty is a corporation, and collective bargaining seems the most straightforward way to reduce that asymmetry.
As far as I'm aware, the reduced effectiveness of unions in the US is a direct consequence of union-busting legislation at both the state and federal level (e.g. so-called "right to work" laws, Reagan's actions against unionized/striking flight controllers). If that's the basis for your conclusion, I would agree in the sense that we need a strong political push to undo anti-labor legislation to ensure unions can be as effective as possible.
Another issue is that AI is human replacement strategy and isn’t necessarily the same as the mainframe dev displacement. A new career filled the void because the work still needed to get done by people. New opportunities emerged out of the ashes. The vision from tech oligarchs isn’t that - it’s elimination. It’s centralized power.
I grew up in a household with a parent in a union. We had a pretty darn good quality of life. My dad wasn’t overworked had great benefits, a pension and was able to provide.
Finally, the solution to this problem does not explicitly have to be union. This is a community of builders and thinkers and problem solvers. Maybe you could tell us what you think could affect some change then instead?
Prospect is my union (although I'm a member of a BECTU branch rather than the Tech Workers branch as I work in the broadcasting industry) and it's well worth the dues I pay.
This is great, thanks for sharing. Something like this could be a good resource for folks like me looking for prior art.
In recent decades unions have been demonized. And I understand some of the criticism, but IMO now is the time to get something organized for tech. The alternative is just to sleepwalk into the unemployment line
Billionaires messaging is something like “we don’t know what kind of devastation might happen to your livelihood, I’ll be richer of course, so let’s just step on the gas” Tech workers have the opportunity to be the brake pedal, ask for a seat belt or airbags. I think progress is inevitable, we can proceed more cautiously if we can find a voice and organize.
/s
also nobody in tech wants a union because we all burnout for a payout.
mids join fang so they can make 400k plus tc predictably. every 3-5 years they double their NW. most of my friends who still at fang (we are in 30s now) are making like 700k-1.5m and have huge spending habits too. none of them have been affected by layoffs yet.
some join unicorns and then get 10-30x or more on options. and then start our own companies.
there’s levels to this shit
Tech workers have thought of themselves as the geniuses, the exceptions, not as part of the general labor pool. And they have been! They have received very high salaries, good benefits, sometimes stock options. There have been a lot of tech workers who have become millionaires - not 50%, but enough that it felt like they had a realistic chance to do so.
It's really hard to persuade people like that that they need a union. Unions are for people who can't take care of themselves, who need a union to protect them from big evil management. Tech workers don't see themselves that way.
Also, unions often have bureaucracy of their own. Tech people generally hate bureaucracy. Having the company's version is bad enough; adding a second one on top is a really hard sell.
So you have a really big headwind for trying to persuade your target members that they should want such a thing.
But you have an opening now, with AI and concerns for jobs. People may be more open to the idea than they historically have been. The problem is, the people that you need to get, the ones who are deciding to implement AI, are typically the ones who still think they're the special ones, the ones who will always have jobs, so they still won't see the need, not for themselves. You have an opening with some people, but I'm not sure it's enough for you to be able to make real change.