Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Professor and Chair of Labor and Employment Studies John Logan discussed the new tools big tech companies have developed to monitor and stop employee unionization, including an invisible browser extension to monitor employee discussions of protest and a collaboration tool that allows censorship of union-related words.
Not only are employees under surveillance, some are also losing their jobs as a result of organizing protests or discussing labor rights. "So far, tech companies have suppressed labor activism with ruthless efficiency," Logan wrote. "If unchecked, the anti-union tech devices of Facebook, Google and Amazon will tilt union organizing even more in favor of powerful corporations and against ordinary workers."