Workers from the referencing department at lettings platform Goodlord, based in Heneage Street, London E1, are continuing their indefinite strike against fire-and-rehire and for a living wage.
Alphabet workers unionise
There’s been a huge amount of media interest in the announcement that workers at Alphabet Inc – Google’s parent company – have formed a union as part of Communications Workers of America. Unite London Digital & Tech branch sends its greetings to our colleagues who’ve taken this bold step.
Returning to work: SAGE advice
For anyone returning to their usual place of work, being consulted about whether or not to return, or with questions about safety we recommend watching this video from the multi-disciplinary group of scientists Independent SAGE. Their weekly briefings feature questions from the public. It’s up to us to be informed, in case our employers aren’t.
A home working survival guide
Many employers are normalising homeworking arrangements for their entire or a portion of their workforce. This is clearly necessary in order to minimise the potential for Covid-19 to spread, but it should not be at the cost of employees’ physical or mental wellbeing.
Shocking findings in BCS diversity report
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT continues to produce very useful analyses of the tech industry workforce. A recent report on diversity is a must-read. The first part is based on their own research and the second on Office for National Statistics data.
Abolish Silicon Valley!
Here is a great interview with author Wendy Liu discussing her book Abolish Silicon Valley, in which she investigates the role of tech firms within capitalism. Wendy memorably describes startups which build things like call-centre automation as producing “worker immiseration as a Service”.
Abolish Silicon Valley is available from Repeater books.
Covid-19 and the Employment Rights Act
We all need to become acquainted with some of the basic provisions of employment law! Read about leaving the workplace for health and safety reasons.