Will unions come to Silicon Valleys well-paid workforce

Will unions come to Silicon Valleys well-paid workforceWill unions come to Silicon Valleys well-paid workforceNo American tech giant like Facebook or Google has formally unionized, but a recent Quartz feature has argued that this is a near future that may happen.Interviewing two grassroots activists groups, Tech Workers Coalition and Tech Solidarity, the author, Michael J. Coren, found that unionizing had been on itsmembers mind. Tech Solidaritys founder Maciej Ceglowski told Quartz explicitly that collective action, one of the tenets of unions, was the goal of the group, which has hundreds of members attending its weekly meetings. With their unique skills and internal knowledge, tech workers are in high demand, and ansicht activists groups believe that tech workersgreatest organizing power is when they threaten to walk out the door.This got us thinking what would unionization really change for Silicon Valley?What Silicon Valley wants More political powerThere are several classes of workers in the tech world. The largest is contractors, like security guards and janitors, who successfully unionized. Higherwages and benefits are what drove the unionization campaign for tech contractors. In January, 3,000 security officers for Facebook, Cisco and Genentech won recognition as members of Service Employees grenzberschreitend Union-United Service Workers West. This followed successful SEIU-USWW negotiationsfor other tech contractors like shuttle bus drivers and janitors.But for tech workers like engineers and managers, who have some of the highest-paid jobsand thebest company perks, money and benefits are notlage the motivating appeal of a union. Instead, political involvement is the driver.After the Muslim travel ban was proposed by the White House, these activist groups were motivated by the power of collective action toget more political power and change tech companies ethical bottom lines. A senior Oracle employee resigned after his CEOjoined President Donald Trum ps transition team, and an IBM employeequit after the presidents proposed Muslim ban.And no wonder immigration is an issue very close to Silicon Valley. The tech industry is one of the greatest sponsors of H-1B visas for talented workers from other countries. Thats why tech leaders including Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Marissa Mayer started Fwd.us, a politically active group dedicated to fixing immigration and criminal justice reform.As always, though, the interests of workers and managers are not always aligned.H-1B visas for foreign workers are the flashpointOne of the reasons why these major tech companies have yet to unionize is that it would end the disruptive culture many Silicon Valley startups say they need to innovate. Facebook, for example, was founded on a culture of move fast and break things. That includes a work culture that would be anathema to unions long hours, for one thing.Intel co-founder Robert Noyce warned that remaining non-union is essential for survival for most of our companies. If we had the work rules that unionized companies have, wed all go out of business. Noyce believed that unions caused deep, deep divisions be-tween workers and management which can paralyze action, an unwanted outcome when venture capitalists funding startups want results yesterday.And so previous attempts at unionizing at Silicon Valley companies have failed. In 1982 and 1983, Atari workers failed to unionize. Unions pesky demands for better wagesare seen as efforts todrive up operating costs, which is why certain unionization campaigns face hostility. Similarly, IBM workers created a union-like group called AllianceIBM, but the company disavows the existence of any unions. About six months after an Apple employee tried to unionize its retail workers, certain Apple managers were made to receive union awareness training.In 2002, Professor Alan Hyde wrote a paper on organizing laborin Silicon Valley, and suggested that uniting under ethnic or gend er lines at individual companies could be the path forward to unionization.Organized labor groups might well conclude that its future lies with newer immigrants rather than with older IT professionals who never affiliated with labor organizations . Could the ethnic pride and energy of Silicon Valleys immigrant communities fuel successful organizing for programmers, as it has for janitors?Hyde may be on to something foreign workers have a lot to complain about in the tech world. bedrngnis only do existing employees reject the need for diversity, but critics of Silicon Valleys use of H-1B visas, cite the National Academy of Science report that says the tech industry loves the visas because they allow the companies to pay lower wages to foreign engineers.Either way, it look like Hyde was rightin his prediction about immigration providing the spark to light the fire towards some kind of unionization movement. After the White Houses executive order on immigration, 127 companies, includin g Apple, Google and Uber,signed an amicus brief opposing it, citing harm to their businesses as a reason The Ordermakes it moredifficult and expensive for U.S. companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of theworlds best employees. It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatenscompanies ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States.Whatever side of the debate youre on, theres no question that having a voice in the immigration debate is crucial for these companies and their workers. The only question is how Silicon Valley gets there - and whether companies are willing to trade off some cultural traditions like long workdays.