There’s a ‘common sense’ wisdom that skilled workers in new industries don’t unionise. Old school steel workers do. App-driven couriers, like at Deliveroo or Uber Eats, do. But the people who produce the apps that drive them … well, that’s a different story.
Except it isn’t. The Tech Worker’s Coalition, whose focus is on organising white-collar workers in this sector, is getting busy in the UK doing just that.
The Tech Worker’s Coalition was started in the US for workers within the tech industry who were unhappy with how the products of their labour were being used. Whereas in traditional industrial production, commodities require labour and capital input each time they are produced, the product of a software developer’s labour (in the form of code, for example) can be reproduced an infinite number of times without new inputs required each time. Tech sector workers found the products of their labour being used in industries as wide–ranging as controlling drones or border security. The TWC saw their numbers soar following the election of Donald Trump, with members holding themselves responsible for developing the platforms that enabled the proliferation of fake news and far-right talking points.
Blue and white-collar crossover
The TWC was started by a labour organiser, a cafeteria worker and an engineer, and an important goal for the organisation is to build solidarity between workers whose pay-scales and working conditions vary greatly. Although white collar workers (software engineers, backend developers etc) cross paths with blue collar workers (such as cleaners and cafeteria workers) all the time, it is important to build solidarity across these intersections of labour. A vital part of this process is utilising the workers’ inquiry methods that combines organising with the knowledge of those involved with the production process.
The combination of traditional research “from above” and involving workers in the production of knowledge “from below” is vital because white collar workers tend to have an individualised outlook of the world. This leads to individual solutions based on consumption (avoiding plastic bags to reduce your carbon footprint for instance) or tokenistic changes (more minority representation on boards). Allowing workers to identify issues and providing them with the theoretical tools to link them together as systemic issues that need systemic solutions is the key to raising consciousness of class across sectors that are often regarded as distinct and with no crossover.
Part of this lack of crossover is due to the significantly different working conditions of most tech workers compared to many blue-collar workers. The tech sector is unique in the perks it provides its employees with. Recreational facilities, subsidised bars, in-house restaurants, and even bedrooms, have converted the traditional office set up into sprawling campuses with the implicit idea that employees never really have to leave. Forcing employees to install apps on phones and computers that can monitor internal calendars is a common method for rooting out potential troublemakers. A much larger workforce of cleaners, waiters and porters is needed to maintain these facilities, working without perks for longer hours and often on precarious contracts. Tech workers command high wages relative to other industries due to the limited number of them. This is rapidly changing. There has been a shift towards encouraging children to code from young ages, which will eventually create a reserve army of labour to depress worker bargaining power and wages alike.
London calling
The London chapter of the TWC started up fairly recently. As well as workers’ inquiry sessions, TWC runs learning labs where tech workers can learn about their rights within the workplace. Discussions can include the sharing of workplace experiences as well as focussing on specific issues (for example the staff walkout at IGN over workplace harassment), all with the aims of developing actions and building systematic critiques of the industry. With an eye at linking up workers who create tech solutions with those who use technology as part of their jobs, London TWC has more in common with the smaller more dynamic unions such as the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) than the more established, bureaucratically dense unions.
Recent years have seen a wave of reaction against changes in pay structures for workers in the platform–based economy (Deliveroo being a well-documented example). These are the intersections between white and blue-collar workers that the Tech Workers’ Coalition has the potential to provide valuable interventions within. As with the US chapters, London TWC have no formal membership structure with no dues paid. Instead they are an all-volunteer organisation where membership consists of simply turning up to meetings. Most refreshing is a willingness to encourage memebers to get involved by joining or starting autonomous working groups that form the active work of the chapter. Meetings are collaborative and informal. A TWC member phrased it this way: “It’s still early days, we’re very much raising awareness still, but I’ve seen more progress in the past six months organising with TWC than I had seen made from the rank-and-file of a ‘traditional’ union in 3 or 4 years. There are no unelected officials frustrating members’ efforts, nobody at TWC will waste your time with promises of support and not deliver. We show up for each other and those less fortunate than us.” And in that spirit, if you work in or around the tech industry we encourage you to get involved with the Tech Workers’ Coalition!
The next London TWC meeting is on Thursday, 20 February at 18.30, at 15 Old Ford Rd,E2 9PJ
Follow them on twitter: https://twitter.com/TechWorkersLDN
Find their website: https://techworkerscoalition.org/
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