Keziyah

The people in tech I know are balancing high rents, student loans, healthcare bills, and being their parents' retirement plan, just like everyone else. *she types as she sits in her mom's home that she helps pay rent for with $15 in her checking account*

Years ago, I was working at a non-profit that runs a national network of rape crisis hotlines. We were making $11-13/hour in expensive-as-fuck DC, so we decided to unionize.

At one meeting, we asked the organizer what other groups he was working with. When he told us he was working with lawyers, we were surprised. Lawyers surely made much more than we did, and definitely had jobs with more prestige. We couldn't understand why they needed a union.

Now that I work in tech, I get it. Unions aren't just about fighting for higher wages. Lots of us, especially women, people of color, and those in other marginalized groups, end up leaving the industry within a few years. It's not always about money.

It's also about overwork and burnout, discrimination, ethical issues, no protections against firing & layoffs, etc. And money too. Fair pay for marginalized groups. Higher pay for people who aren't engineers, designers, or PMs.

If you hate the way things are at your job, a union can help make things better. If you like the way things are at your job, a union can help keep them that way. It's a no brainer to me. Of course tech needs a union.

At its core, unions are about helping to level the power imbalance between you & your employer. Whether you end up fighting for higher salaries, or an ice cream fountain, why wouldn't you want that? Why would you want to have no power at all at your job?

All of us in tech, I don't care how secure you think your job is, should be worried about layoffs. Raise your hand if you, or people at your company, have been laid off in the past year We can't stop layoffs. But we can, with a union, make it easier for those affected.