The subcontracted workers challenged their firing, but they couldn’t hold out
Silicon Valley’s contract labour has become a hot political topic, as a slew of potential Democratic presidential candidates sponsor legislation that could force companies to negotiate with more workers they claim not to employ. In California, Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, and a half-dozen other companies are lobbying to defang a court ruling that could make it difficult to avoid reclassifying such workers as employees. And in Washington, the Republican-dominated National Labor Relations Board has made moves to undo an Obama-era precedent that could make big employers legally liable for contract workers even if they have only indirect control over them.
The GOP takeover in Washington is one reason the Temporary Workers of America, a union of bug testers for Microsoft Corp., gave up on what had been, for people in the software world, an almost unheard of unionisation victory, says the group’s founder, Philippe Boucher. The 38-person union successfully organised in 2014, winning the right to negotiate with temp agency Lionbridge Technologies Inc., which provides marketing, testing, and language services. Within a few years, however, Lionbridge had eliminated all their jobs, and the workers say a union-busting complaint they filed in December 2016 with the NLRB against Microsoft dragged on too long. They agreed to settle this spring to get financial relief.
Denne historien er fra 1 September, 2018-utgaven av Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra 1 September, 2018-utgaven av Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Golfing With The Enemy
Did Donald Trump's executives violate the Cuban embargo?
Super-Rich Syrians Wait for War's End
Actor, author, playwright. Gill Pringle tries her hand at unravelling the mystery behind this enigmatic multi-hyphenate
Pam Codispoti
The mastermind behind the industry-shaping Chase Sapphire Reserve Card sets her sights on banking
This Time It's The Economy
President Rouhani’s budget sets offprotests from people angry about unemployment and inflation
Saudi Prince Counts On Support Of Citizens
State-worker salary increases appeal to the people, but policy may throw the budget off track
Stalin's Legacy Is Choking The Ukrainian Economy
The government has resisted pressure to lift a ban on land sales, despite pressure from the IMF and investors
Catastrophe Bonds Survive A Stormy Year
The turbulence of 2017 couldn’t destroy a market for betting against disasters
Riding The West Bank's Credit Boom
Increased consumer lending is creating a bubble in the West Bank
You'd Be Crazy To Buy Pizza With Bitcoin
Speculative fervour makes the cryptocurrency clumsy for commerce
What If The President Loses His Party?
Trump has to figure out a way to work with Republicans in Congress, or the global economy may be at stake