If the myth of tech over the past decade has been one of constant innovation, algorithmic scale, and new products and devices that “simply work,” the truth is that all of those illusions were made possible by the obfuscation of labor: the contract content moderators who sanitize the feeds of Facebook and YouTube from violence and extremist content; the warehouse workers at Amazon fulfillment centers trying to meet the guarantees of same-day shipping; the gig workers of all kinds — Uber drivers, food delivery cyclists, Instacart shoppers, among them — all of whom are at the whims of increasingly efficient platforms and wayward legislation.
And that’s not even to speak of the white-collar tech workforce that, while better compensated, is still being taken advantage of by NDAs and mandatory arbitration clauses that keep hidden the realities of discrimination and harassment in the office. But now, some workers across tech companies are organizing for better treatment and pay. Others are making efforts to unionize. Most importantly, the movement will reach everyone who works in tech — and anyone who uses those platforms. The story of the tech industry over the next decade will be the reckoning brought on by its workforce.
Months after workers at eBay acquisition TCGplayer — known for dealing in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and Magic: The Gathering cards — won a vote to unionize, the company has finally recognized their union and committed to starting negotiations.
This follows the NLRB rejecting eBay’s appeal and comes well after worker complaints over its delays, as well as intimidation tactics.
The NLRB has rejected an appeal from TCGPlayer and parent company eBay that sought to contest certain employees’ membership in TCG Union, according to an emailed press release.
Because of the pending appeal, TCGplayer has failed to recognize the union that won its election back in May, and refused to meet with the union to bargain for a fair contract.
When the Screen Actors Guild joined the Writers Guild of America in striking against the AMPTP last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger called workers’ demands for better pay and a cut of streaming profits “disturbing” and unrealistic.
During Disney’s quarterly earnings call this week, though, Iger sang a rather different tune insisting that he has “deep respect” for the striking workers, and that “it is my fervent hope that we quickly find solutions to the issues that have kept us apart these past few months.”
Sure, Bob.
[The Hollywood Reporter]
In a move highlighted by Hollywood’s ongoing strikes and reports of unsustainable working conditions during the production of Across the Spider-Verse, a supermajority of the more than 50 people in Marvel Studios’ visual effects crews signed cards saying they want to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
Vulture reports they’re seeking an election as soon as August 21st.
For almost half a century, workers in the visual effects industry have been denied the same protections and benefits their coworkers and crewmates have relied upon since the beginning of the Hollywood film industry. This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for the work we do.
Though the South Korean entertainment industry’s exploitation of its workers is well documented, writers and production workers attached to Korean Netflix projects have spoken out about how the streamer’s making things even worse for them.
The success of shows like Squid Game might make it seem like on-screen talent fares better, but in a new report from the LA Times, the Korea Broadcasting Actors Union claims that Netflix won’t even meet with them to discuss the pay inequality that makes it hard for supporting actors to make ends meet.
While Hollywood’s ongoing double labor strike has exposed the studios’ willingness to see the workers who help create their profits become destitute, Warner Bros. Discovery also wants investors to know that it’s saved more than $100 million in Q2 because of the work stoppage.
Said WBD head David Zaslav:
“We’re in the business of storytelling. We cannot do any of that without the entirety of the creative community, the great creative community.”
So true, David. So true.
Joe Biden asked the Department of Labor today to issue a first-ever ‘Hazard Alert’ for heat. The move comes after UPS and Amazon employees demanded protections from sweltering work conditions. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) started the rulemaking process for a federal heat standard to protect workers back in 2021. This week, farm workers and Congress members urged OSHA to finalize and implement the rule.
The possibility of a Teamsters strike cutting off the last-mile deliveries by UPS that many retailers rely on (including Amazon, which reportedly remains UPS’ biggest customer by revenue despite its own delivery network) appears to have been averted, as the two reached a new five-year contract that will need to be ratified through a vote by the 340,000~ unionized workers.
Some of the highlights:
Safety and health protections, including vehicle air conditioning and cargo ventilation. In-cab A/C in all larger delivery vehicles, sprinter vans, and package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024. All cars get two fans and air induction vents in the cargo compartments
Existing full- and part-time UPS Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023, and $7.50 more per hour over the length of the contract
Existing part-timers will be raised up to no less than $21 per hour immediately
Average top rate increasing to $49 per hour
[International Brotherhood of Teamsters]
A “supermajority” of the “approximately 100 eligible members” have signed union cards to form Grindr United, according to a press release from the Communication Workers of America. The employees come from multiple departments at Grindr, including engineering, design, IT, marketing, and quality insurance.
Next, they’ll vote in a union election.
During Netflix’s earnings call on Wednesday, co-CEO Ted Sarandos opened with a statement about the writers’ and actors’ strike:
You should know that nobody here nobody within the AMPTP... took any of this lightly. But we’ve got a lot of work to do. There have a handful of complicated issues. We’re super committed to getting to an agreement as soon as possible — one that’s equitable, and one that enables the the industry and everybody in it to move forward into the future.
The AMPTP still isn’t budging on the conditions that writers and actors want, including higher streaming residuals and protections surrounding the use of AI.
Netflix says it expects a free cash flow of at least $5 billion in 2023 — $1.5 billion more than its original $3.5 billion estimate, citing the “ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes,” but noting there could be “lumpiness” moving to 2024.
The strikes have already shut down several Netflix productions, including Stranger Things, Big Mouth, Emily in Paris, and more.
According to a report from Bloomberg, over “a dozen current and former employees” believe the company isn’t doing enough to hire and promote women and people of color.
Internal metrics provided to Bloomberg indicate that both executives and standard employees at Roblox “skew heavily male.” The company also “has no targets around hiring or promoting diverse employees,” Bloomberg reports, and instead hires people based on an “unbiased system.”
The Screen Actors Guild went on strike over major studios’ refusal to meet their demands for a two percent cut of streaming revenue and a 230 percent increase in foreign streaming residuals, among others, according to Variety.
On studios’ use of generative AI and actors’ digital likenesses, Variety writes:
The union wants to require that a performer has to consent to any use of their performance to train an AI system. The AMPTP would accept that for AI training used to alter or recreate that performer’s likeness. But according to Crabtree-Ireland, the AMPTP would give studios carte blanche to train AI systems to create “synthetic” performers, or for other purposes.
SAG-AFTRA also wants studios to get union consent on individual uses of AI, which the studios have refused to grant. There is also the dispute over background actors.
With both writers and actors on strike, the future of Hollywood is at stake.
Two out of the big three Hollywood labor unions are on strike, citing streaming and AI as major issues, and actors are starting to picket offices for companies like Warner Bros., Netflix, and Amazon. This screengrab from CNBC captures the initial reaction of Wall Street.
The poor working conditions that prop up Korea’s film and TV industry are something that workers rights activists hoped Netflix might help combat as the streamer began to source more original programming in the country.
But in a bleak new report from the LA Times, production workers attached to a number of Korean Netflix projects say that post-Squid Game (with its relatively cheap budget), things are only becoming more dire.
Secret Invasion’s AI-generated opening credits aren’t Marvel’s best, but they do feel like a very telling sign of where the studio and the larger entertainment industry are at right now.
