Well it’s about damn time!
Generally, I don’t go for Unions. But after decades of seeing the kinds of excesses those at the top of tech companies engage in, I can’t say I’m surprised.
Tech companies have gotten away with figurative murder for years. They’d hire people, work them into the ground, then fire them when they’d burned ‘em out. They’ve on more than one occasion, forced the worker they were going to fire to train their H1B1 replacements, knowing they could work the H1B1s like slaves, and have no repercussions. But during this time We had a president saying H1B1 workers and migrant workers were doing jobs that Americans wouldn’t do. That was bullshit then, and now it looks like the bullshit will be exposed.
For the worker it’s not just about the constant job hunt. For the laid off workers it’s about having resumes with a string of jobs that ultimately hurt their long term prospects to find gainful employment. As HR departments and “Talent Placement” agencies started making statements in interviews like, “You’ve had a lot of positions over the years,” without factoring in the context. It made reliable hard working people suddenly less employable.
HR and Talent agents will deny that contract work or multiple layoffs have any bearing, but the reality of what they do, versus what they say couldn’t be more different.
Google’s motto used to be “Don’t be evil” I have no idea what their motto is now; “Be Super Evil?” It’s not just Google, it’s Facebook, Twitter, and the plethora of other tech companies whose sole aim is to use and control people in almost any way possible.
I welcome unions in the technical field today. Twenty years ago I would have been against them. In my most recent employment, in addition to the absolute control the supervisors had over each employee, many of them were fond of saying, “Do you want to keep your job?” or something similar.
The implied threat being that they’d find a way to fire you for no reason at all. It could be that they simply decided they didn’t like you.
It had nothing to so with your abilities or your performance. They’d find something. They’d rely on inaccurate metrics, write you up over 10 second late return to your desk from a break or lunch, or say that you spent too much time with a customer. They’d find a way, then screw you. And you’d have no recourse. This was as an employee of the company. I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who was just a temp contractor.
Middle Management and above all drove Teslas, high end BMWs, Mercedes, Jaguars, or Audis. The average terrified worker came to work in some kind of beater that was barely running, belching oily smoke and obviously in need of significant repair for which they had neither the time or money.
Middle Management and above were always on vacations. The workers couldn’t get time off approved. My final paycheck included over a month of unused vacation time. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to take a vacation, it was because for 3 solid years every single vacation request was denied. “For Business Reasons“
I’m not into the bullshit philosophy that everyone should have the same everything… But when you have this kind of disparity and simultaneously the “upper class” delights in tormenting, terrorizing, and generally fucking with lower echelon workers, Well the next logical conclusion, aside from multiple lawsuits that the workers can’t afford to pursue, is an overarching protection mechanism like unions.
The Technology Industry has finally matured. Now they’ve reached the same point that the Steel & Textile industries reached 100 years ago. Yet for all their “Forward Thinking” they’ve made the same mistakes and committed the same atrocities. I guess it’s human nature, those in power will inevitably abuse that power, and eventually the subjects of that power will rise up against oppression.
Maybe I’m still steamed about the layoff. Maybe I’m pissed off that where I worked I was told I could move to another department after I learned the product (A lie). Maybe it’s just that I’ve had a belly full of abusive, arrogant, shitheads. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above. But today, right now, I say unionize the whole damn tech industry. That might change over the coming months or years. But for right now…
Google, Facebook, Tech companies etc… You assholes have made your beds. Now you’re going to get the dry angry vengeance ass fucking you so richly deserve.