By Janus Boye
"By standing together, we can build a better version of the tech industry."
Boston-based Ethan Marcotte published a new book back in August and it's all about improving the industry that many of us work in.
Unions can help create a fairer, more equitable and sustainable workplace, which is very important in the tech sector with all the unethical practices that have grown up in some of these big tech firms, and the impact this can have on everyone's lives.
Ethan is a web designer, speaker, and author. He’s perhaps best known for creating responsive web design, which helped the industry discover a new way of designing for the ever-changing web. He’s also working as a partner at Autogram, a digital consulting firm.
In his book - You Deserve a Tech Union - he shares a how-to guide, a history lesson, and a manifesto all in one. We were privileged to have Ethan join a recent member’s call, where he talked about the resurgent labor movement in the tech industry, why unions matter and why you—yes, you—deserve a tech union.
Below you’ll find my notes from the call, a few links to recent developments in the field, and even the entire recording.
Why a book about tech unions?
As Ethan explained in the beginning of our conversation, he first and foremost wanted to write the book because there’s a shift in how the US tech industry thinks about work.
An early milestone was back in 2018 with the Google walkout, where more than 3,000 gathered carried signs that said, “O.K. Google, really?” The backlash was prompted by an article in The New York Times that revealed that Google had paid millions of dollars in exit packages to male executives accused of misconduct.
At the 2018 Google walkouts, striking workers used a flyer that read:
“Hi. I’m not at my desk because I’m walking out in solidarity with other Googlers and contractors to protest sexual harassment, misconduct, lack of transparency, and a workplace culture that’s not working for everyone. I’ll be back at my desk later. I walked out for real change.”
Similarly, there’s been worker activism at other major tech firms, e.g. at Kickstarter, which has changed into forming unions. The book really started as Ethan’s attempt to understand what’s happening and how unions in tech might be an effective way to have more say about your work.
When Ethan entered the tech industry in the late 90’s, peers saw the tech industry as being unique, and unions were widely considered an artefact of the middle of the 20th century and something that belonged in industrial workplaces. In short: Other kinds of workers needed a union, but not tech workers.
The book does have a US focus, including a long chapter in the book which is on how to form a union in the US, but as Ethan said, most of the book is relevant to all tech workers, including the parts on what it means to be a “tech worker,” and what it means to do tech work and also how to use unions to build a more sustainable future for tech work and tech workers.
Talking to people doing the hard work
But what are unions? And why do they matter? Ethan answers these questions in the book through extensive research and by interviewing tech workers with real-world union-building experience. Ethan shares these workers’ insights and stories, weaving them together to outline the process for forming a union of your very own.
The book is informed by almost 50 interviews with economists, labor researchers, and also workers who have formed unions. When talking about hard work, forming a union happens on nights and weekends and it’s all unpaid.
An episode on the Strong Feelings podcast: Solidarity in Action with Nora Keller. To quote: “Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, equity, and respect at work. The best way to do that? Unionize! Tech worker and organizer Nora Keller tells us how to get started.”
One of the interviews is with Nora Keller from the NY Times Tech Guild, the largest tech union currently for knowledge workers in the US. When Ethan spoke to Nora, she said: “The thing is that no one knows how to form a union before they do it”.
This really provided Ethan with a sense of direction for the book and informed his chapter on how to actually do it to help those who might be grappling with anxiety, concerned that they’ll mess it up and overwhelmed by all the various steps.
Some of the interviews were also off the record. As Ethan said:
“While forming a union is legally protected, there’s also many examples of retaliation”
What really brought some to forming a union is the interesting fact that while most of us place a high premium on the value of democracy in every part of life, that’s not really the case at work. Having a union in place can be like installing an engine of democracy in the workplace.
The Nordic perspective where unions are strong, but old fashioned
In the Q&A, we heard from a few of our Scandinavian members - a region in the world, where unions and labor laws are strong, but also as one participant put it, where unions have ways of working and ways of doing things that make them less appealing to tech workers.
As many have experienced in Scandinavia, and perhaps also elsewhere, you often need some explaining when dealing with your union, e.g. when they review a tech contract. A product manager is not necessarily that kind of manager that your union thinks of as a manager.
Interview on Working in Sweden: 'Spotify is going to find that a union deal is a competitive advantage' (April 2023)
As Ethan mentioned, there’s a gap between the historical labor movement and what’s needed from unions today. Still, also in Scandinavia, union membership comes with legal support, which can be quite helpful.
Ethan also referred to American union organizer, author, and political commentator Jane McAlavey. She talks about the concept of a “hot shop”, where the employer did something horribly wrong, which enraged a majority of workers, and they rushed into a drive to organise. Unfortunately hot shop efforts in our current climate fail, despite the agitation (‘heat’) for a union.
Zooming out, Ethan also mentioned that he opens the book by asking these two questions:
What are the things you like about your job?
What are the things you wish were different?
Typically, for the things you wish were different, the usual path in tech has been simply to leave and find another job. With a union in place, that engine of democracy, both you and the workplace, should ideally have a better option than just walking away from each other.
Learn more about unions and making work work
“To organise, or not to organise” was a session title on the design leadership conference track at the Boye Aarhus 23 conference, where Senior Product & UX Designer Morten Lund from Grundfos led a discussion on a 21st century union. Have a look at the slides (PDF).
On the topic of making work work and avoiding burnouts, we also recently had a very inspirational member’s call with Berlin-based designer Hertje Brodersen titled: What is job love?
The conversation on work and the role of unions naturally continues in our peer groups and at our conferences.
Finally, you can also lean back and enjoy the recording from the call below.