There is power in a union?

[diffrentcolours]

For a while now various friends have been talking about UTAW, the United Tech and Allied Workers Union. Technically it's a branch of the CWU, with a focus on the tech industry, and attempting to organise online rather than through geographical branches.

I've never been a member of a union, and slightly sceptical of them. We had a bad time when mother_bones needed employment support from her Unison branch but they were too busy running a high-profile campaign. And I saw the way some unions backed Labour over the National Identity Database when I was campaigning against it. I did look into UTAW but their campaigns seem worthy but not particularly relevant to the issues facing the UK tech industry. There's nothing there about AI/LLMs, nothing about return-to-office mandates and the associated risks of Covid and Long Covid.

But the people I know who are members are adamant that I would be pushing at an open door if I raised these issues on the UTAW members-only Discord, so today I signed up. We'll see how it goes and whether this is a useful activism outlet for me.

Comments

[diffrentcolours]

Fortunately I don't expect to need the services of the union for anything employment-related. As a white cis middle class man in tech, I can pretty much expect an easy ride on that front.

But I am hoping I can encourage their campaigns to be a bit more focused on the industry. Or at least find some like minded people.

[barakta]

I think that's all good actually, recognising different reasons to join a union. Also, arguably those folk least likely to need personal assistance are the ones who should join the most as part of the collective contribution cos if the skew of membership is only people in likely/actual crisis, the union cannot function, it needs numbers and variation and people not needing help to resource those who do need help.

It would be good to see unions be more tech-aware and get more tech sectors unionised cos they are so hostile to people who aren't male/cis/white etc and can be pretty disablist despite having disabled people often working in IT cos it is sometimes accessible with WFH options etc.