Lightning Talk: Organizing Ourselves

by Yonatan Miller

Summary of "Lightning Talk: Organizing Ourselves"

In his lightning talk at Ruby Unconf 2019, Yonatan Miller presents the concept of organizing within the tech industry to address critical issues such as diversity, salary disparities, and the negative impacts of technology on society. He aims to publish a book titled "Organizing Ourselves: Design Patterns That Matter," emphasizing that collective action based on solid data is essential for tackling these problems.

Key Points Discussed:

Importance of Organizing: Miller advocates for the need for tech workers to come together and organize in response to industry challenges.
Historic and Modern Models of Organizing: He introduces various organizing models, including:
- Unions: Citing examples like the Game Workers Union in the UK and the Ver.di union in Germany, he illustrates how unions advocate for workers’ rights.
- Company-specific Affinity Groups: Groups such as BlackFolks at GitHub and Gayglers at Google serve a similar purpose in fostering advocacy and solidarity within corporations.
Tech Workers Coalition: A newer organization (formed in the last year) that primarily operates in the U.S. major tech hubs and aims to influence workplace policies through activism.
Examples of Collective Action: Miller highlights impactful protests organized by the Tech Workers Coalition, such as:
- Google Employee Rally: Tech workers protested against forced arbitration agreements, successfully prompting Google to reconsider these policies.
- Protests Against Corporate Practices: Demonstrations against Amazon's ties with ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) highlighted the industry's moral responsibilities.

Conclusion:

Miller calls for tech workers to leverage their privilege and power to enact positive changes within their respective organizations. He encourages discussions about forming new chapters of advocacy groups and welcomes feedback regarding his organizing ideas. The video serves as a rallying cry for collective action in the tech industry.

Overall, this talk emphasizes the importance of organization and collective action among tech workers to address systemic issues and leverage their influence to foster change in the industry.

00:00:04.190 Hello everyone, this is going to be the title of a book that I hope to publish someday: "Organizing Ourselves: Design Patterns That Matter." It might be obvious, but the strength lies in collecting data on various issues. If you're concerned about diversity in tech, salary disparities, the harms caused by the tech industry, or major issues like climate change, we need to work together.

00:00:14.570 I will discuss a few different kinds of organizing models, both historic and new. Unions are an obvious example that comes to mind, such as the Game Workers Union in the United Kingdom and the Communication Workers Union. Additionally, the Ver.di union in Germany represents telecom workers. There are also company-specific affinity groups that function similarly to unions, like BlackFolks at GitHub and Gayglers, which consists of LGBTQ+ employees at Google. These groups have been monumental in advocating for legislation in their respective countries.

00:00:39.860 This represents a strength of multinational corporations: they can leverage their influence in international contexts. I'd like to talk about a new organization that was formed last year called the Tech Workers Coalition, which is primarily based in the United States, especially in major tech hubs like San Francisco, Portland, and New York. They also have chapters in Montreal and Bangalore, and potentially in Germany. What are they doing? The Tech Workers Coalition is doing two main things: they are bringing protests into the workplace, including online spaces like GitHub, but also in-person demonstrations.

00:01:28.250 For example, there was a rally by Google employees, where every participant was a tech worker protesting against forced arbitration agreements related to sexual harassment. In these cases, employees are compelled to sign contracts stipulating they will not sue the company. In response to the protest, Google agreed to make changes. Similarly, there have been protests against the involvement of companies like Amazon with ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement), protesting issues such as family separation by the U.S. government. As developers, we are all familiar with these companies, and while I’m not against them, I want to emphasize that we possess a lot of privilege and power, and we can influence these corporations to do better.

00:02:57.109 In conclusion, let's get organized. This was a condensed version of my longer talk, and I would love to discuss the formation of new chapters with you or any feedback you may have. That concludes my three-minute pitch.