Remote employees say that working in the office is "completely unfeasible" and a union-busting move.
Amid the upsurge of successful union representation elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, workers are still struggling to secure their first contracts—and real change in the workplace.
If properly enforced, just cause protections would give all workers more security to stand up to dangerous working conditions, sexual harassment, bullying, speed-up, and wage theft.
Employers are using heavy-handed tactics to prevent workers from organizing, and U.S. labor union density is falling as a result.
Two long-time organizers for economic, racial, and gender justice reflect on the lessons of the past half-century and assess the strategic challenges and opportunity confronting a new generation of workers, activists, and organizers.
Parties and movements in transition
As the economy opened up to women a half century ago, one in three working women was an office employee. As the clerical workforce grew by leaps and bounds, so did a sense of injustice among the women, leading to the founding of the 9 to 5 Movement.
It is not too late for Biden to use the full powers of his presidency to confront employers who force workers to choose between protecting their health or retaining their jobs — and to challenge them in other matters as well.
So far, tech's labor activism has largely moved on the margins of the industry, with Amazon warehouse workers, Apple Store employees and video game QA testers leading organizing efforts, while engineers, product teams and other headquarters staff mostly shied away.
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