Trouble in the Bubble: Tech Workers Organizing in the Industry

[stationaery]

Description

How can we as users and workers imagine ways to own our technology? On the path towards full cooperative takeover like turning Twitter into a public utility, we have to get fairly compensated for our labor - which is why volunteers with Tech Workers Coalition developed Get Back Lost Wages, a simple platform for all gig workers in California to file claims for minimum wage and overtime pay. This session introduces strategies for building power in the tech industry. We will talk about our opportunities to organize, get mutual aid and ideas, and will co-design real tools for the job.

Type: workshop
Length: 2 hours or half-day, depending on availability
Language: english
Additional considerations: [e.g., max number of participants, access]

Session Objectives

• This session aims to build bonds and share a story, "this would have been a great way to organize my workplace with fellow coworkers."
• To deepen the bonds and share insights, we will talk about real projects underway to provide material aid and mutual aid with our peers in the tech industry, by co-designing improvements to the Get Wages project.
• Finally, we will reflect on the experience together and imagine how we might do more radical work together - in our workplaces and in industry-wide collaborations.

Material and Technical Requirements

• Enough chairs and space for 8-16 people to sit in a circle
• Laptop and projector and screen
• Paper and markers for prototyping services for worker power, similar to Get Wages

[List materials you as presenter require AND any participant materials (indicate if support is required for a purchase/cost). Include equipment, technical, and installation requirements if applicable. We will aim to accommodate where possible]

Presenter(s)

Name: Danny Spitzberg
Email: stationaery@gmail.com
URL(s): https://twitter.com/GetWages
Twitter: https://twitter.com/daspitzberg/

As a visitor coming from California, I'm interested in any accommodations you're able to provide! Happily, I know how to get around Toronto, having visited a few times over the years.

Presenter Bio

Danny Spitzberg is a user research and sociologist based in Oakland, California. He volunteers with Tech Workers Coalition, a worker-led, all-volunteer network building working power in the tech industry. He works with Start.coop, a business ownership accelerator, and with a tech collective working with new cooperative platforms worldwide. Find Danny at twitter.com/daspitzberg.

Note: I may co-present with Wendy Liu, a friend and collaborator on the Get Wages project and in TWC's writing club. Find Wenday at https://twitter.com/dellsystem

Note also: We are hoping to invite allies from folks from TWC's presentation at https://www.mcluhancentre.ca/logout!