View source for Tech Wobblies/Meeting Notes 2018-11-12

{{:Tech Wobblies}}


==== Resources ====
* CBC Ideas:  [http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/platform-capitalism-digital-technology-and-the-future-of-work-1.4297369 Platform capitalism, digital technology and the future of work]

: <html5media>https://podcast-a.akamaihd.net/mp3/podcasts/ideas-Gw8mWBs8-20180731.mp3</html5media>

: Part of the CBC Ideas series ''Workshift''.


* [https://www.iww.org/ Industrial Workers of the World | One Big Union!]
* [https://techworkerscoalition.org/ Tech Workers Coalition]
* [https://www.theawl.com/2017/03/its-time-to-unionize-in-silicon-valley/ It's Time To Unionize In Silicon Valley - The Awl]
* [https://git.coop/kat/oggcamp2018 Kate Dawson's presentation]: [https://git.coop/kat/oggcamp2018/raw/master/slides.html Cooperative Technologists]
* [https://gs.jonkman.ca/conversation/290994 !Fediverse notice] about an app called [http://www.notesfrombelow.org/article/an-introduction-to-wobbly Wobbly]
* [https://www.economist.com/business/2018/11/03/big-techs-sell-off Big Tech’s sell-off - Schumpeter | The Economist] -- with special attention to the last paragraph of the article!

* Twitter:
** [https://twitter.com/_IWW @_IWW]
** [https://twitter.com/techworkersco @TechWorkersCo]
** [https://twitter.com/twcsandiego @TWCSanDiego]
** [https://twitter.com/search?f=users&q=iww Search People: IWW]


==== Meeting Notes ====
* Introductions

* Steve has an IWW membership card from 1975!
** and Sunny has a modern card, with self-adhesive stickers representing dues (from $11 - $33/month)

* IWW goal is to be a self-funded union.
** Money to do projects: training on workplace organizing, &c.
** Having a budget is useful
** No outside influence if self-funded.
** Similar to a self-managed business or a co-op
** all funding goes back into the IWW
** kwiww.wordpress.com (needs some updating)


* Techworkers Coalition is less formal, anyone can join


* Orgininally, unions were based on trades
** Now, divided by region (Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo)
** But tech workers have their own needs, so now splitting that off again

** The larger techworkers union can encompass Toronto, KW, North Bay

* IWW has general membership branches, divided by region, not by trade
** Has strength in Ontario from lumber industry, based on migrant workers, who had no access to trade unions

* With many workers working and living together they will (can?) self-organize
** Talk things over about how employers are treating workers.
** Most trade unions don't accept contractors in their union, contractors == scabs

* IWW accepts contractors in their union, ''any worker''

* The union will accept contractors, and negotiate for
** But it's different for off-site contractors, but the IWW could handle that
** IWW also operates in areas where there's no jurisdiction for trade unions
** No framework for industrial organizing in Canada (or the States)

* Union for a workplace is for collective bargaining; a trade union may provide union training

* IWW puts techworkers under "Communications"
** Setting standards for all techworkers in any workplace
** Good for small, scattered workplaces
** For techworkers, not so much for negotiating pay, but perhaps oncall or overtime hours


* eg. Google walkout for sexual harrassment; influenced other corporations like Facebook
** Making small changes in one place will filter to other places

* But some grievances aren't satisfied by one corporation; if one company doesn't do it, another one will


* This sounds more like a social justice action -- and that's the whole point.


* Critical mass?
** Needs 10 people to form a formal industrial union branch (IUB).
*** (that's an IWW requirement)

* Note that IWW is not Techworkers Coalition
** Techworkers Coalition started in the California Bay area, from gameworker's union.
** Loose organization, no formal membership
** Provides a place to discuss grievances, solutions, and expand that to larger nationwide discussions
** "Low obligation" way to get involved,
** Sign up for Techworker's Coalition on their website, get access to their Slack channel
** No dues, no voting...


* Techworker's Coalition Meetup on Sat 17 Nov from 3-6pm at East York Civic Centre

* IWW and Techworker's Coalition share values, but IWW has a budget, and "real union" power to back the workers


* Labour laws require employers to negotiate with unions once there is sufficient membership
** Some progress in Montreal in fast food industry, precarious work.
** Has low union membership density, so a good target for organizing
** In Montreal some demands were met wihtout a contract; in US formal contracts are in place.
** But no contracts are preferred to avoid legal battles
** Certification as a union? Get certain numbers of people to sign union cards; protection from dismissal for union activity
** Improved working conditions, improved control over the work\
** Building block for social change

* Difficult co-op to get union affilliation
** In order to get recognized there needs to be a boss and workers, but that's not part of a co-op. Workaround: A board of directors.

* But big unions (Unifor) is not interested in worker control

* But worker control over labour is the point of IWW

* Is Unifor subsuming the work of IWW?
** Well! Not really, Unifor is not working for the workers, although their literature would say otherwise. There is antagonism between Unifor and other unions.

* Unifor has left the CLC
** CLC is a social justice organization

* Unifor's politics are not those of the IWW

** The IWW locals are autonomous, the IWW is run by the locals from the bottom up (unlike other unions)
** Other unions profit from the workers not knowing about the union

** (discussion on union raiding, agitating, organizing)

* IWW practices "solidarity unionism", everyone signs on and becomes involved
** Other unions dictate conditions to the workers

* Many parallels to political parties: there are top-down, big-tent parties, and bottom-up, grass-roots parties
**  Maybe the trade unions did start off as bottom-up, but when they grew large that level of communication interfered with that model
** How can IWW prevent that?
** Direction the labour movement has taken in the last 50 years: different trade unions got amalgamated, and grew into monstrous beasts

* Large unions are affected by back-to-work legislation: How does that provide protection to the workers?  This is entrenched in Canadian labour legislation
** "If you're really big no-one wants to pick a fight with you"
** Very little gains have been made in the last 50 years
** When organizations get too large, the executive takes over
** Now things are speedy and novel that organizations don't have a chance to make mistakes -- how to keep up the communications-expensive organizational model of IWW?

* Local KW branch of IWW is try9ing to pull out tech workers based on their unique needs.
** But that will grow and build bureaucracy
** Ontario labour law has many exemptions for techworkers (12 hour days, no overtime protection, &c)

* When a local organization gets large enough, the IWW fragments it into their own bureaucratic structure; fragmentation is built in to prevent over-size organizations
** This model has been demonstrated many times, in many different sectors, throughout IWW existence
** eg. Russian Bolsheviks, labour union in Spain
** IWW has been doing this for 100 years


* IU == Industrial Unions
* CNTU == Quebec-based federation of unions

* Closed union shops?
** Based on legislation at the close of WWII
** Everyone must pay dues to prevent the "free rider" problem
** SysAdmins not well represented by, eg. Steelworkers union
** Create a separate bargaining unit, in the same union?
** When bargained contracts are unequal the Ontario Labour Relations board gets involved.
** IWW allows membership in multiple unions!
** But that may create more borders between workers, looks disorganized to the employers
** Bargaining units could be as small as two or three people
** eg. Waterloo Region example of shed-builders: Two people certified a union, now it's a closed shop.
** Politicians in WR are working to prevent the ill effects of closed shops and the bidding process.


* Are we going to get bids as cheaply as possible, or are we going to ensure a fair wage for workers? This is determined by who we elect into office to set labour law. (but who gets to vote based on this one issue?)


* In IWW there are people opposed to the closed shop model
** Closed shops may be a trap for unions: "We're done organizing now"
** But that doesn't provide flexibility when new classes of work appear, new workers are needed
** Unions become unresponsive to needs of new workers in new work
** Union amalagamation is not responsive to small changes


* In some union elections the offices are almost always contested
** because the workers are involved

* Everyone informed, everyone involved, everyone having a say is the essence of solidarity unionism

* Contracting out shouldn't matter, as long as the workers have the same working conditions
** But this may not work for off-site work, eg. contracted at-home workers
** Need to be in contact with your fellow workers to keep up with the needs of workers


* What kind of response has IWW got from the SysAdmin community?
** People have been coming out to meetings!
** Sunny looking to set up an Industrial Union, not a workplace union.
** Lots of media attention to collective action, eg. Salesforce workers want the company to divest from ICE; sexual harrassment walkout; anti-war, peace work
** Happening everywhere, but centered in the Bay Area

* Want organizations that are not employer-centric or industry-centric
** Want to be able to critize the hand that feeds us
** eg. funding organizations don't provide funding to non-profit organizations involved in  well-off industries

* Co-op sector is very much aligned with the values and philosophies of IWW

* Why does IWW pursue the union model, not the worker-owned model?
** IWW does both
** Unions have a history of making radical, industry-wide changes, eg. invented the weekend
** Co-ops may not make such big chagnes for workers
** And co-op workers are workers too!

* LibraInformation Systems is a co-op that is unionized; very big, lots of contracts

* Maybe workers can buy their distressed companies and form a co-op

* False dichotomy between co-ops and unions. Other countries with histories of worker-based actions are more open to co-op/union fusion

(mondregon in spain?)

* Co-ops have been failing because of lack of capital & cashflow

* IWW has facilitated communication between different unions in the same sector where employer was pitting one union against the other

* Unionizing the trade unions? Union workers are workers too!




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