Does anyone have knowledge and or experience with forming a union in the US? After doing some mild research I failed to find a union that represents telework / work from home employees, specifically those who are facing return to office mandates from their corporate overlords.
Unions tend to target a specific industry, and “work from home” encompasses a lot of different kinds of work, in a lot of different kinds of industries.
Work from home can range from anything from an IT worker who spends most of their day in SSH to a Customer Service Representative who spends all day on the phone with customers.
I don’t think there are necessarily any rules stating that a union has to be people in the same industry… that’s just generally how it’s done. It’s definitely likely possible, since people who work from home have similar needs in terms of union representation., however it might be confusing to have all those different types of work under one union representation. I don’t know, someone else probably knows more.
Organizing people who are by their very nature, separated from one another, seems like a tall order, but one worth exploring.
SEIU is a big tent union consisting of folks in service industries, healthcare, and higher education. I personally think this makes them relatively ineffective as an alliance because it’s not like the restaurants are going to care if the university staff go on strike. Instead resources are spread thin between all the different groups and all the action happens at the local level with no real organization representation available to rank and file workers. But it is an example of a union for different industries.
Generally unions are per place or per trade at least. An employer of any decent size would likely just shrug it off if 10% of their staff went on strike and replace them under the guise of layoffs and cutbacks. The other big factor with remote work being that it’s super easy to just grab some people from places like India or the Philippines where they have sizable outsourcing industries set up and far less employee protections.
Communication Workers of America is probably the closest to what you’re looking for. You’re definitely better off working with an established union instead of trying to build one from scratch, they have a lot of valuable experience and resources that you’ll need to pull off a unionization attempt. If you reach out directly to CWA, or any other union, they’ll work with you to help organize your workplace.
If you are serious about unionizing: first, see if you can get a few of your coworkers on-board by talking to them outside of work. Do this in-person or on voice calls that aren’t recorded, it’s crucial to keep the company unaware as long as possible so they have less time and ability to oppose you.
We just organized a full remote /hybrid workplace. But in the EU. But basics is the same and we got a bit of resistance (US company)
Keep info away from company as much as possible as long as possible. Get help from an established union.
And as said it needs to cover as much as possible for your workplace, to cover everyone working remote in different areas or companies will not work.
IWW comes to mind. They’re not aligned with any particular trade etc, unlike most unions.
Also…. See “You Deserve a Tech Union” recently published. If cost is an issue there is an arrangement that can be made, see author’s masto acct.
Personally, I was hired fully remote, and would fight like hell right beside you any attempt to drag me back. I’m fortunate to be four plus hours from the office I’d likely work in otherwise, so I do t expect to need to fight - I lived here when they hired me.
Whatever you learn and whatever options you find, please come back and post as it will help others.
