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Silicon Valley needs to get into labor agitation if these protests are gonna go anywhere.
by drb91 8y ago
Silicon Valley needs to get into labor agitation if these protests are gonna go anywhere.
- bargl 8y agoWouldn't software engineers need to unionize to do that effectively? I'm asking from knowledge 0 about unions etc. So how would that work?
- knuththetruth 8y agoYes, they would need to organize, but what’s happening at Google is a nascent form of this kind of struggle. Before there were ever such things as unions, workers banned together and rebelled in precisely the way employees at Google are doing so now. Over time, they recognized the need to create a formal, more durable structure, which culminated in what we today think of as unions. In terms of the practical realities of organizing developers, check out Tech Solidarity or your local DSA branch. Both groups are deeply involved with helping workers organize and restore a sane power balance to the American economy. https://techsolidarity.org/ https://techsolidarity.org/ https://www.dsausa.org/ https://www.dsausa.org/
- drb91 8y agoYes, unionization is key here. Cultural tastes need to change a bit, I think, but developers have enormous leverage. I’d like to echo the sibling comment to visit your local DSA branch if you want more information.
- zzzcpan 8y agoOrganization - maybe, unionization is not. It might even shift this kind of power away from the developers with all the unethical stuff easily traded for perks and better compensation.
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- drb91 8y agoDepends on your goals, I guess. It seems to me we’re already trading both compensation and ethical say for perks.
- reaperducer 8y agoOrganized protest doesn't necessarily mean unionization. Look at the school walkouts in the United States lately. Helicopter video on the news of 1,000 Googlers marching out of their offices would do a lot more to raise the nation's awareness of the issue, and put a lot more pressure on the C-level, than an internally-circulated letter.
- drb91 8y agoI agree with the sentiment here, but PR driven pressure is probably not the best leverage to use in all cases. There’s real value to having internal say in the direction of the company you’re building.
- extralego 8y agoThat’s an important point that not many people realize about unions. Unions are great, when they are great. The West Virginia teacher strikes were wildcat strikes, meaning they did not have the support of their union. The union was against the strikes but the teachers had the support of their community, which is far more important. In short, and due to the recent Janus Act, unions in the US are not going to be very helpful for a while. But, more important is building a popular consciousness ready to articulate these struggles within a capitalist system. DSA has a few very positive tech-focused organizing efforts underway in SF and NYC. I recommend starting at http://dsausa.org http://dsausa.org
- idbehold 8y agoSoftware engineers have already begun unionizing.
- yacn 8y agoWould love to know more about this if you have the info handy.
- TheForumTroll 8y agoStep one would be for them to lean what a Union actually is. It means something completely different in the US than the rest of the world.
- drb91 8y agoYes, and a union is emphatically not a positive or negative thing in itself. Arguably the police union is at the heart of the BLM movement.
- jbob2000 8y agoI'm curious what people think about protest commits. Would it be unethical for a group of employees to get together and push an update to put up a protest banner across some google software? Much like a picket line across a factory entrance?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- badrequest 8y agoI'm down if you're down.