Office Politics: The Role of Diversity Networks in Tech Worker Organizing

• In Event: Current Issues in Labor & Work: Precarity, Automation, and Inclusion

Abstract

One of the most prominent trends in labor politics over the last fifty years has been the decline of traditional labor unions as changes in the economy and shifts towards precarious work have restructured labor relations. In the United States, the decline of labor has been especially prominent in the private sector, where trade union membership and collective bargaining coverage has fallen from one third of the labor force in the early postwar decade to less than ten percent today. Simultaneously, the number of mass-based or class-based movements has also waned. In the absence of unions, have workers relied on alternative forms of organizing to achieve worker representation? Under what conditions do these alternative forms of organization emerge and to what extent do they represent employees and their ability to address their rights? In this early exploration for a larger project on non-union worker organization and representation, I aim to better understand how private sector workers make claims for their rights within the workplace, with a specific focus on the tech sector, the Google Walkout event in November 2018, and the potential role of diversity networks (also known as employee resource groups) in facilitating or hindering such efforts. Using interviews with former and current Google employees, this paper serves as an early foray into my broader interest of why workers in some industries have developed more robust forms of solidarity than in others, as well as a discussion into the role of identity and how “diversity and inclusion” (D&I) projects have affected organizing and labor power. These exploratory interviews suggest that, although diversity networks can bring workers together across borders, levels, and roles by making ascriptive characteristics salient, they largely avoid controversial or political issues and dilute the ability of workers to target their claims by blurring the distinction between management, “the company,” and employees.

Author

• Claire Ma, University of Pennsylvania