Meta and unions

{{Short description|Meta and Facebook workers who formed unions}}

The social media platform Meta Platforms services 3 billion users across its subsidiaries Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads. Meta employs an estimated 60,000–80,000 employees as of 2023.{{Cite news |last=Isaac |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Isaac |date=March 14, 2023 |title=Meta to Lay Off Another 10,000 Workers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/technology/meta-facebook-layoffs.html |work=New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Facebook subcontracts an additional estimated 15,000 content moderators around the world.{{Cite news |last=Bernal |first=Natasha |title=Facebook’s content moderators are fighting back |url=https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-content-moderators-ireland |access-date=2024-09-26 |work=Wired |issn=1059-1028}} The majority of unionized workers at Meta in the United States are subcontractors working at Meta offices as security guards, janitors, bus drivers and culinary staff. In Germany and Kenya, content moderators have formed unions and a works council respectively.

Labor issues at Meta

Meta employs many remote technical employees and visa workers, which makes unionization complicated in terms of employee rights across different countries.

Meta utilizes H1B visa workers within the US, who are often paid less and are particularly vulnerable to exploitation given visas can be revoked if laid off, forcing workers and their families to leave the country within days. Many tech companies are motivated to retain visa workers due to lower costs, and have instituted performance firings rather than mass layoffs to maintain the ability to obtain visas to hire foreign workers at lower cost.

Contract workers in the US and abroad do not receive the same benefits, including healthcare, vacation, sick time, parental leave and stock, as full time employees.

Germany

There are 5,000 content moderators in Germany. Those employed by Telus International and Majorel service several social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram.

Cengiz Haksöz who is employed by Telus International, moderates content for Facebook and Instagram. Shortly after giving a testimony on June 27, 2023, to the German Bundestag Committee on Digitization regarding his working conditions, Haksöz was placed on paid-leave and banned from the company premises in Essen. The company alleges he violated his non-disclosure agreement. As the chair of electoral board, Haksöz was responsible for facilitating the works council election which was ongoing. Ver.di union filed an objection against management's obstruction to the election.{{Cite news |last=Beuth |first=Patrick |date=2023-06-23 |title=Facebook-Moderator kritisiert Jobbedingungen – und darf nicht mehr arbeiten |trans-title=Facebook moderator who criticizes job conditions – must stop working |url=https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/facebook-moderator-kritisiert-jobbedingungen-und-darf-nicht-mehr-arbeiten-a-0384e272-cccf-4905-8093-dba47cc9635b |access-date=2024-09-26 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}} The {{Ill|Essen Labour Court|de|Arbeitsgericht Essen}} ruled in favor of Haksöz and ordered the company to let him return.{{Cite web |last=Hanfeld |first=Michael |date=2023-07-01 |title=Telus: Wie ein Content-Moderator für seine Rechte kämpft |trans-title=Telus: How a content moderator fights for his rights |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/medien/telus-wie-ein-content-moderator-fuer-seine-rechte-kaempft-19002157.html |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |language=de}} The {{Ill|works council election|de|Betriebsratswahl}} commenced on July 7, with the ver.di union list receiving 80% of employee votes, or 14 of 17 seats on the works council.{{Cite web |date=October 26, 2023 |title=Bedeutender Erfolg für Content Moderator |trans-title=Important success for content moderators |url=https://www.verdi.de/themen/nachrichten/++co++290090a2-1f17-11ee-a3b0-001a4a160129 |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=ver.di |language=de}}

Ireland

Connect union represents 20 critical-infrastructure engineers at Meta's data center in Clonee, County Meath, Ireland. In response to proposed shift schedule changes, the Connect union threatened to go on a 24-hour strike.{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=Anne-Marie |date=2024-10-04 |title=Boss at Meta urged to end alleged ‘union busting’ tactics ahead of strike action |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/boss-at-meta-urged-to-end-alleged-union-busting-tactics-ahead-of-strike-action/a974550423.html |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=Irish Independent |language=en}} The strike was replaced by a labor court proceeding instead.{{Cite web |last=Cappella |first=Nicole |date=2024-10-09 |title=Meta experiencing labour issues at Clonee data centre |url=https://www.techerati.com/news-hub/meta-experiencing-labour-issues-at-clonee-data-centre/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=Techerati |language=en}}

Kenya

150 content moderators, who contract for Meta, ByteDance and OpenAI gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to launch the first African Content Moderators Union on May 1, 2023. This union was launched 4 years after Daniel Motaung was fired and retaliated against for organizing at Sama, which contracts for Facebook.{{Cite magazine |last=Perrigo |first=Billy |date=2023-05-01 |title=150 AI Workers Vote to Unionize at Nairobi Meeting |url=https://time.com/6275995/chatgpt-facebook-african-workers-union/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |magazine=Time |language=en}}

United States

Meta full time employees (FTEs) are not currently unionized, although many contractors indirectly employed by Meta are unionized. In April 2024, the NLRB ruled that Meta had unlawfully restricted employees right to organize, including "non-disparagement and confidentiality restrictions (that) prohibited former employees from raising workplace concerns with co-workers, labor organizations, or the public, preventing them from finding support when dealing with labor disputes. These restrictions would also apply even if former employees' statements were truthful." As part of that ruling, "Meta must also distribute a notice to employees informing them of their right to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act, and stating that the company will not interfere with such organization."{{Cite web |last=Yeo |first=Amanda |date=July 23, 2024 |title= Over 7,200 former Meta employees' confidentiality agreements found unlawful |url=https://mashable.com/article/meta-nlrb-confidentiality-non-disclosure-agreement-employee-union |work=Mashable}}

Subcontractors employed by Meta working onsite including security guards, janitors, bus drivers and culinary staff are largely unionized.{{Cite news |last=Sumagaysay |first=Levi |date=August 27, 2022 |title=This obscure band of Facebook workers is in the middle of a heated union fight |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-small-largely-unknown-band-of-facebook-workers-is-in-the-middle-of-a-heated-union-fight-11661542994 |work=MarketWatch}} Previous efforts to unionize content moderators and mail room sorters were unsuccessful.

Culinary and cafeteria staff employed by FlagShip, serve Facebook offices in Menlo Park, Fremont, Seattle and New York City.{{Cite news |last=Ho |first=Vivian |date=2019-07-22 |title='It's a crisis': Facebook kitchen staff work multiple jobs to get by |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/22/facebook-cafeteria-workers-protest |access-date=2024-09-26 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}} At Facebook's headquarter in Menlo Park, 500 cafeteria workers voted to unionize with UNITE HERE union in 2017.{{Cite web |last=Garrett |first=Brianne |date=July 24, 2017 |title=Facebook cafeteria workers vote to unionize |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/facebook-cafeteria-workers-vote-for-unionization/?openLogin=1 |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=CNET}} Facebook contracts multiple IT outsourcing providers including Accenture, Cognizant, TaskUs, and Wipro to provide hundreds of content moderators within the United States.{{Cite news |last=Satariano |first=Adam |last2=Isaac |first2=Mike |author-link2=Mike Isaac |date=October 28, 2021 |title=The Silent Partner Cleaning Up Facebook for $500 Million a Year |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/technology/facebook-accenture-content-moderation.html |work=New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} With the support of Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (Communications Workers of America), moderators at Wipro organized in 2020 for better working conditions including pay-parity with employees of Facebook. Workers left due to alleged retaliation.{{Cite web |last=O'Donovan |first=Caroline |date=2020-06-06 |title=Facebook Contractors Wanted Better Working Conditions. They Lost Their Jobs Instead. |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/facebook-contractors-say-they-were-punished-for-wanting-a |access-date=2024-09-27 |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en}} In the smallest NLRB election at Meta, 46 mail room sorters employed by Canon Production Printing (Canon Inc. subsidiary) voted in April 2022 whether to affiliate with Teamsters union. 46 workers voted, 23 in favor and 23 against. In October, the NLRB ruled that the election was not successful.{{Cite web |date=October 12, 2022 |title=Certification of Results |url=https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45838b5948 |publisher=National Labor Relations Board}}

References

External links

[https://superrr.net/2023/06/14/content-moderators-manifesto.html Content moderators manifesto] (Germany)

Category:Tech sector trade unions