If the myth of tech over the past decade has been one of constant innovation, algorithmic scale, and new products and devices that “simply work,” the truth is that all of those illusions were made possible by the obfuscation of labor: the contract content moderators who sanitize the feeds of Facebook and YouTube from violence and extremist content; the warehouse workers at Amazon fulfillment centers trying to meet the guarantees of same-day shipping; the gig workers of all kinds — Uber drivers, food delivery cyclists, Instacart shoppers, among them — all of whom are at the whims of increasingly efficient platforms and wayward legislation. And that’s not even to speak of the white-collar tech workforce that, while better compensated, is still being taken advantage of by NDAs and mandatory arbitration clauses that keep hidden the realities of discrimination and harassment in the office. But now, some workers across tech companies are organizing for better treatment and pay. Others are making efforts to unionize. Most importantly, the movement will reach everyone who works in tech — and anyone who uses those platforms. The story of the tech industry over the next decade will be the reckoning brought on by its workforce.
The settlement would resolve an investigation by California’s Civil Rights Department, which had for years been investigating claims from employees who said they were retaliated against for using parental, disability, and family-care leave.
Employees who used these benefits said they were denied raises, promotions, and stock awards as a result. Microsoft, which has previously been lauded for its leave policy, denied the allegations.
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From net neutrality to H-1B tech workers to cellphone unlocking, much of tech policy revolves around the administrative state.
The California Department of Industrial Relations says that Amazon didn’t provide employees written notice of quotas they have to follow — a requirement of the Warehouse Quotas law. “The employer argued they did not need a quota system because they use a peer-to-peer evaluation system,” according to a press release.
The regulator found more than 59,000 violations across two warehouses.
The Amazon Labor Union voted to ink an affiliation agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Workers at a Staten Island warehouse became the first Amazon employees to vote to unionize in 2022. They still don’t have a contract, as the union struggles to get Amazon to the bargaining table. Joining forces with the Teamsters infuses their fight with fresh resources, The New York Times reports.
[The New York Times]
Best Buy is laying off more employees as it reckons with falling sales
The retailer continues its push to rein in costs.
Last year, General Motors agreed to cover its electric vehicle battery manufacturing under the United Auto Workers’ master agreement as a precursor to settling the historic 45-day union strike. And today, the UAW announced that it has a tentative agreement with Ultium Cells, the joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solutions. UAW President Shawn Fain, who has expressed concern about how the EV transition will affect workers, said Ultium Cell employees “showed the world what it means to win a just transition.”
[UAW | United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America]
Handmade marketplace Etsy is fighting for customers as shoppers turn instead of ultra cheap retailers, The Information reports. One problem is that Temu products are often listed for more money on Etsy.
Etsy sellers have long complained about drop shipped items infiltrating the site. It was a key issue in the 2022 seller strike and subsequent organizing efforts.
[The Information]
The unionized workers at the Towson, Maryland store voted to authorize the strike over the weekend, but there’s still no word on when it will start. “As discussions with Apple management continue, we remain committed to securing tangible improvements that benefit all employees,” the union representing the workers said.
The employees, who are represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, will hold a vote this Saturday on whether or not to go on strike. The union says Apple hasn’t addressed workers’ concerns despite “persistent efforts to engage in constructive and meaningful dialogue.”
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As a part of its five percent reduction in workforce, Take Two is closing down Roll7, a London-based studio that developed the OlliOlli games, and the Seattle-based Intercept Games that made Kerbal Space Program 2. In a statement to Game Developer, a Take Two spokesperson confirmed that the company would still support the popular, if goofy, flight simulator.
As previously reported in Alex Heath’s Command Line newsletter, layoffs at the $2 trillion company have cut “at least 200 employees” in the Core engineering group, according to CNBC.
That division handles “building the technical foundation behind Google’s flagship products, protecting our users’ online safety, and maintaining our global IT infrastructure.” Some roles moved to India or Mexico, and includes at least 50 in Google’s Sunnyvale offices.
The new deal adds protections around using digital voice replicas, reports Reuters.
The terms “artist,” “singer,” and “royalty artist,” under this agreement only include humans. In this agreement, clear and conspicuous consent, along with minimum compensation requirements and specific details of intended use, are required prior to the release of a sound recording that uses a digital replication of an artist’s voice.
AI voice cloning improvements mean we’ll probably see more agreements ensuring performers are informed about how copies of their voices are used.
Last Week Tonight’s segment about food delivery pulls heavily from Josh Dzieza’s terrific, award-winning feature, with a strong reminder to always tip.
The layoff comes after reports that the company is doing away with its Just Walk Out cashierless retail tech at its large format stores. GeekWire reports AWS VP Dilip Kumar cited the change in emails about the cuts internally.
As CNBC notes, Amazon has laid off more people since 2022 than at any point in its history. This year, that’s included Twitch and Amazon Health.
The city’s chatbot for business owners is telling people to break the law, including telling bosses they can take employees’ tips (they can’t), and that stores can go cashless (also wrong, as of 2020). The chatbot is powered by Microsoft Azure AI.
Mayor Eric Adams has announced other AI tools recently, including a gun detection system that will soon be installed at subway turnstiles.
In spite of unfair labor practice complaints and a round of layoffs, the 150 members of the AEGIS (CWA) union at Sega of America have a new contract. It guarantees members annual wage increases, warnings before layoffs, hybrid work schedule commitments, and severance packages.
There has been a growing unionization movement in the video game industry over the last few years, and AEGIS’s new contract marks the first ratified contract at a major developer.
The Information reports Meta has had issues keeping AI talent and has resorted to hiring researchers without an interview. Meta has been losing researchers to Google’s DeepMind, OpenAI, and Mistral, which was founded by former Meta engineers.
One reason could be the salaries AI researchers could earn. Meta reportedly pays AI researchers up to $2 million, which is less than the $5 million to $10 million paid by OpenAI.
The union’s animation voice actors voted 95.52 percent to 4.48 percent on Friday to ratify contracts that were similar to the deal that ended the actors’ strike last year but didn’t include the same definition, as Variety notes.
The contracts (summarized here) run from July 1st, 2023 through June 30th, 2026, and include pay raises and add limits on the use of AI to replicate voice actors.
SpaceX already filed one lawsuit claiming the agency’s actions o (on a complaint about workers who say they were fired illegally for criticizing Elon Musk) are unconstitutional and now there’s this complaint issued Wednesday night.
SpaceX is accused of using severance agreements with ”unlawful confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses, and an unlawful limit on participation in other claims against SpaceX,” among other issues. The parties can either settle (seems unlikely), or there will be a hearing on October 29th.