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WashTech Fights for ‘Permatemps’ on Three Fronts
From the courtroom, to the statehouse, to the Microsoft campus, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers — a CWA organizing affiliate — continues to battle the problem of a growing contingent workforce while at the same time striving to bring high-tech temporary workers the benefits of unionization.
In U.S. District Court, Jan. 26, a Microsoft attorney said the company would immediately cease using controversial temporary personnel agreements, or TPAs, that include language aimed at excluding long-term contractors — "permatemps"— from any class-action settlements.
WashTech is working to organize more than 10,000 permatemps, most hired through agencies who work as long as a year without a break on Microsoft’s Redland Wash. campus. Many WashTech members are potential plaintiffs in class-action litigation that could determine that they are common-law employees, explained WashTech co-founder Marcus Courtney.
Federal Judge John C. Coughenour ruled against the TPAs following a Jan. 14 hearing in which he characterized Microsoft’s attempts to force contract workers to sign them as "outrageously arrogant."
"Although this is a positive development," said Barbara Camens, general counsel for The Newspaper Guild-CWA, "it does not begin to address the inequities posed by Microsoft’s mistreatment of its contingent workforce. Those broader concerns will be addressed by Microsoft only when the employees organize and assert their collective voice and strength."
WashTech shares facilities with the Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
On Feb. 5 WashTech helped ensure that the voices of high-tech permatemps were heard at the state capitol in Olympia during a Senate Labor and Workforce Development hearing. A group of WashTech-affiliated high-tech workers testified in favor of Senate Resolution 8402, sponsored by state Sen. Rosa Franklin and 20 co-sponsors. It would create a multi-agency, bipartisan task force to study Washington state’s burgeoning contingent workforce.
"Senate bill 8402 would be an important step in getting accurate figures about the changing nature of the employee/employer relationship," Courtney testified. "It would also help us to start finding answers as to why our economy is moving from full-time jobs with good benefits, to contingent jobs with second-class benefits and little if any job security."
In Mid-February, said Courtney, WashTech dropped some 3,000 letters on the Microsoft campus, inviting workers to take part in what he called, "the most comprehensive survey ever" on high-tech permatemp working conditions. The letter provides an Internet address where contingent workers can locate the survey.
In U.S. District Court, Jan. 26, a Microsoft attorney said the company would immediately cease using controversial temporary personnel agreements, or TPAs, that include language aimed at excluding long-term contractors — "permatemps"— from any class-action settlements.
WashTech is working to organize more than 10,000 permatemps, most hired through agencies who work as long as a year without a break on Microsoft’s Redland Wash. campus. Many WashTech members are potential plaintiffs in class-action litigation that could determine that they are common-law employees, explained WashTech co-founder Marcus Courtney.
Federal Judge John C. Coughenour ruled against the TPAs following a Jan. 14 hearing in which he characterized Microsoft’s attempts to force contract workers to sign them as "outrageously arrogant."
"Although this is a positive development," said Barbara Camens, general counsel for The Newspaper Guild-CWA, "it does not begin to address the inequities posed by Microsoft’s mistreatment of its contingent workforce. Those broader concerns will be addressed by Microsoft only when the employees organize and assert their collective voice and strength."
WashTech shares facilities with the Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
On Feb. 5 WashTech helped ensure that the voices of high-tech permatemps were heard at the state capitol in Olympia during a Senate Labor and Workforce Development hearing. A group of WashTech-affiliated high-tech workers testified in favor of Senate Resolution 8402, sponsored by state Sen. Rosa Franklin and 20 co-sponsors. It would create a multi-agency, bipartisan task force to study Washington state’s burgeoning contingent workforce.
"Senate bill 8402 would be an important step in getting accurate figures about the changing nature of the employee/employer relationship," Courtney testified. "It would also help us to start finding answers as to why our economy is moving from full-time jobs with good benefits, to contingent jobs with second-class benefits and little if any job security."
In Mid-February, said Courtney, WashTech dropped some 3,000 letters on the Microsoft campus, inviting workers to take part in what he called, "the most comprehensive survey ever" on high-tech permatemp working conditions. The letter provides an Internet address where contingent workers can locate the survey.