Paid Time Off MattersA (slow) progress report

Paid Parental leave matters: Microsoft's contractors employees to get 12 weeks of paid parental leave

The new paid parental leave requirement was announced in the Microsoft's blog by Corporate VP  Dev Stahlkopf with the headline: Paid parental leave matters. Read the interesting comments by Nat Levy in Geekwire, the Seattle Times (Rachel Lerman). Probably more to come (here Olivia Solon in The Guardian). Congratulations to Microsoft's management for moving in the right direction. Now the questions should be asked to other big high tech companies (Google, FB, Amazon, etc): what are your paid parental leave requirements for your contractors? Still unresolved for Microsoft's contractors employees, and it does count: the status of the public holidays (about 10 per year). The public holidays should be additional paid time off coming on top of the 'at least 15 days' presently required, not included within the 15 days of PTO. Organizing a survey of the contractors employees to collect their assessment of their situation would be useful.

The story of our small union as told by Bloomberg-Businessweek

Here. RIP?

Is Tech finally realizing contractors employees need benefits too?

In Fast Company magazine, this article about how Survey Monkey changed its standards and benefits requirements for its contractors employees. If they can do it, all the big ones can and should have done it long time ago. Who is going to put the pressure on all? Progressive shareholders? Concerned journalists/media? 

A story about people trying to organize in high tech

In the magazine Jacobin. Many similarities with our own story: from illegally firing the first person who asks for more benefits for everybody to outsourcing the whole lab to get rid of the union (run away shop tactic).

A bit of anger - from Hand to Mouth by Linda Tirado

I recently read 'Hand to Mouth, Living in Bootstrap America', by Linda Tirado (2014). Below is what she writes on page 11. it is not that I agree we are/were not better paid than minimum wage but what causes the deep anger and frustration is the discrimination concerning the lack of 'benefits', the lack of respect that was initiated and is still perpetrated by companies like Microsoft and most high tech firms in the US toward their "temps'. Who remembers Bob Herbold and his despise for "useless fixed assets"? Unfortunately, the more things change...

Apple buses attacked in Silicon Valley: symbols of protests against gentrification?

Article in The Guardian by Olivia Solon.

This is not the first time that the corporate buses that ship workers from the city to Silicon Valley have been targeted. In 2013 a window was smashed on a Google bus in Oakland, across the San Francisco Bay. The following year, protesters blocked buses and brandished banners to express their discontent over the privatisation of the Bay Area’s transport system.

The buses have become symbols of gentrification and the perception that the tech sector is responsible for pushing up housing prices in the city, making it unaffordable for those without six-figure salaries.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

MLK DAY 2018

Read or reread the Letter from a Birmingham jail? and this opinion in The Guardian. Top it off with Bernie Sanders. Take good care. Let us remember Microsoft offers a paid vacation day to its direct employees for MLK day (only since 2016) but does not, as far as we know, require the same for its contractors employees. Maybe 2o18 would be a good time to review the implementation of the 'at least 15 days of paid time off' policy, ask with a survey how it's beneficiaries feel about it and how it could be improved upon? Just saying... it could be a good use of part of the new corporate tax breaks?

Walmart offers 10 weeks of paid parental leave

PL+US just emailed us: Over 500,000 Walmart employees just got a massive increase in their paid parental leave!New birthing parents now get 10 weeks at full pay, and non-birthing parents get 6 weeks at full-pay, if they’re full-time workers. 

This is the biggest single expansion of paid parental leave that's ever occurred in the private sector -- and it’s raised the bar for all companies in the U.S.

This is great news but considering the base pay is now at $11 per hour it remains not too costly for Walmart that announced at the same time they were going to lay off thousands of workers employed in 63 Sam's Club stores they are to close.