[HN Gopher] The Tech Worker Handbook
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The Tech Worker Handbook
Author : giuliomagnifico
Score : 134 points
Date : 2021-10-06 19:36 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (techworkerhandbook.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (techworkerhandbook.org)
| tptacek wrote:
| This seems pretty fluffy. I read through the "Legal Handbook" and
| it doesn't seem as much like a handbook as it does a long article
| about what it's like to be a whistleblower, along with some very
| high level stuff about what it's like to engage a lawyer.
|
| Like, a really basic thing here is that the legal advice starts
| by asking people to evaluate whether the misconduct they're
| thinking about violates laws. But it provides little guidance on
| what those laws might be. Obviously, they'd say that the first
| step here is to retain counsel. But that's an expensive and
| difficult first step, and more workers will need to qualify what
| they're observing carefully before taking that step.
|
| Did anyone else read this more closely and reach a different
| conclusion?
|
| The security stuff seems especially weak. Like, basic things
| you'd want to see headlined are the types of corpsec measures
| that large tech companies have deployed to trace leaks, and what
| they're likely to find if they image all the devices your
| contract with them allows them to image.
|
| A much more fundamental problem I have with this "handbook" is
| that it seems geared towards getting people to leak things to the
| press and regulators. But that's not the limit of what tech
| workers can do to respond; a simple thing that the handbook
| doesn't talk much about is "when to quit", let alone when and how
| to engage in concerted action with other team members, and what
| the risks/benefits of that are.
| quadrifoliate wrote:
| > a simple thing that the handbook doesn't talk much about is
| "when to quit", let alone when and how to engage in concerted
| action with other team members, and what the risks/benefits of
| that are.
|
| That may be because often trotted out as a convenient solution
| to _any_ sort of wrongdoing by a lot of privileged people who
| themselves have their pick of jobs in US companies.
|
| It's a convenient null hypothesis that could be the substitute
| for _any_ remedy in this guide. Harassed by your boss? Quit.
| Company you work for is engaging in wildly illegal stuff? Quit.
| Facing racism? You guessed it.
|
| That's not to say that quitting is _not_ a convenient and
| probably the easiest option for a lot of people. I have used it
| myself. It 's just not the one this guide is meant for.
|
| So I think that asking for a "when to quit" part of this guide
| would be like asking for a "when to know you should just give
| up and buy a new car" section in a car repair manual [1]. But
| if you want a lot of people to be good at repairing cars, I
| would hazard that including a "when to quit and just buy a new
| car" section wouldn't be high on your list of things to add.
|
| As for the concerted action bit, I have to agree - adding them
| would be good. My guess is that it would be unionization lite,
| and those are a non-starter in the US for a million reasons.
|
| --------------------
|
| [1] I have to admit I am not particularly clear on this point
| in reality, because I have never seen a car repair manual.
| Ouch. Anyone here who has actually seen one? Make me eat my
| words!
| Eiriksmal wrote:
| I can't resist this bikeshed, but you've written the Maximum
| Hacker News aside of the week. I have several car factory
| service manuals. They do not include cost benefit analyses on
| when to remove a vehicle from service. Instead, they are full
| of flow charts on how to diagnose problems. Each flow chart
| ends with a "If nothing failed a test, but the symptom
| persists, replace the entire part/assembly."
|
| The goal is to pinpoint which piece of an assembly might have
| failed and only repair or replace that one piece. eg bad
| wiring harnesses, a single controller in a complex system
| such as antilock brakes, a single fuse, etc.
|
| The decision whether to keep attempting to repair an ailing
| car, or stay in a role that supports a company doing "wildly
| illegal stuff" is beyond what tech writers can determine for
| you--even given thousands of pages of information in dozens
| of PDFs.
| tptacek wrote:
| That is a compelling takedown to somebody's comment, but it's
| not responsive to mine; I'm not saying quitting is the only
| remedy to problems at giant tech companies, only that it is
| an important remedy.
|
| One way you know that my comment doesn't make the point
| you're arguing against is that you managed to agree with it
| in the last sentence of your own rebuttal.
| l33tbro wrote:
| I think perfect is the enemy of good with something like this.
| I'm glad someone has done this - even with its flaws.
|
| I'm sure there will be more versions of the handbook over the
| years.
| project2501a wrote:
| Unionizing would have no need for such a "handbook"
| ForHackernews wrote:
| I don't really understand why we keep being told that these
| insiders who got rich at surveillance-tech companies are the ones
| we now have to rely on to fix the monster they've belatedly come
| to fear.
|
| What is there to learn from these so-called "whistleblowers"?
| Mtinie wrote:
| A lot? I personally don't remember a major whistleblower--in
| the legal usage of the term--who asked to be the sole savior
| who can fix the problem they identified.
|
| It's quite easy to lose sight of the whole picture while you
| are siloed working on a portion of the whole. I commend anyone
| who makes the public aware of bad corporate or governmental
| actors, even if it took them a while to come around to making
| their decision. That they may have profited in the past is
| immaterial. That's an ethical dilemma they will need to resolve
| on their own.
| makeitdouble wrote:
| I think their viewpoint is that the battle is already lost and
| expecting the situation to be fixed by regular means is
| unrealistic.
|
| Whistleblowers become these little Prometheuses bringing out
| some fire to fight the giants.
|
| I deeply disagree but can empathize with the pessimism, given
| how dire the situation has got.
| [deleted]
| moksly wrote:
| Regulating big tech is a democratic issue. It's not up to the
| individual tech worker to do so, and I'm not convinced that all
| these movements aren't "soft-solutions" organised by big tech to
| avoid people working on real solutions. Solutions like legal
| intervention from the EU and whatever government you are under.
|
| Poor working conditions are solved by forming unions. In Denmark
| we have strong unions, and while their power is weaning (in parts
| thanks to big tech platforms jbecoming the middle men and taking
| 25-50%) our unions are the sole reason we have some of the best
| working conditions in the world.
|
| Because here's the secret to good working conditions. If you and
| everyone else in your line of work stops working, along with
| anyone working jobs that somehow support your lone of work,
| things change overnight.
|
| Just ask MCD why they pay the now famous $22 and hour (or however
| much it was) when they initially didn't want to. It's because
| it's hard to sell burgers when the dock workers refuse to unload
| your bread and the truckers refuse to deliver it.
|
| So I'm all for the ideals behind these things, but they need to
| think bigger if they want to change anything. We shouldn't need
| whistleblowers and bad PR to keep Facebook away from our
| children, it should simply be illegal with mega business ending
| consequences. When that happens you can be fairly sure that
| business will start to actually regulate itself, because if there
| is one thing enterprise businesses care about it's actual risk.
| ipaddr wrote:
| Curious what is the cost of a big mac meal with fries and a
| coke?
| btheshoe wrote:
| For the most part poor working conditions are not the problem
| at big tech. Unethical decisions surrounding wellness of users
| are.
| aspieandproud wrote:
| UK has the highest tech salaries in Europe and trade unions
| were buried in the 70s.
|
| I am fine if you guys seek protection of unions.
|
| But never, ever, ever, interfere with my relations with
| employers.
| flooow wrote:
| As a highly paid UK tech worker, this scab does not speak for
| me.
| aspieandproud wrote:
| 30k is not highly paid. Also, nobody asked you and nobody
| cares if you feel identified.
| jjulius wrote:
| How did you determine that the user makes $30k? Their
| comment history _clearly_ suggests otherwise.
| aspieandproud wrote:
| I don't think I will take your sheit job when you go on
| strike, don't worry!
| trangus_1985 wrote:
| >UK has the highest tech salaries in Europe and trade unions
| were buried in the 70s.
|
| Regardless of what we may or may not disagree upon,
| connecting these the way that you have betrays your ignorance
| of how salaries, employer relations, and unions work.
| aspieandproud wrote:
| I don't care, you are all delusional, a bunch of commie
| ignorants, and lazy bums. I have been an employer, an
| employee, a contractor. I have always done very well and I
| don't need any of your "legal services". So fak off.
| trangus_1985 wrote:
| >I have been an employer, an employee, a contractor.
|
| Curious, what are you right now?
| xpe wrote:
| Since the title is not particularly informative, I'll share the
| first paragraph:
|
| > The Tech Worker Handbook is a collection of resources for tech
| workers who are looking to make more informed decisions about
| whether to speak out on issues that are in the public interest.
| Aiming to improve working conditions, direct attention to
| consumer harms, or otherwise address wrongdoing and abuse should
| not be a solo or poorly resourced endeavor.
| dinkleberg wrote:
| Yeah I've gotta say the naming choice is not very good. It
| looks like they've put quite a bit of effort into this, but I'd
| never have guessed that it is what it is based on its name.
| [deleted]
| throwaway4303 wrote:
| Whistle-blowing and public pressure does help in improving
| working conditions for all workers at tech companies. Example
| Article highlighting lack of benefits for contract workers at
| Google https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/technology/google-temp-
| wo... Result- Google instituted new policies for contractors who
| now get full-time like benefits including healthcare, sick and
| parental leave https://www.wired.com/story/google-require-
| suppliers-give-be.... That's 120,000 workers that didn't have
| benefits now get benefits.
| hikerclimber1 wrote:
| Everything is subjective. Especially laws.
| chrisweekly wrote:
| > ... So-called "employee handbooks," provided to workers at the
| beginning of employment, are ubiquitous within the tech industry.
| They are filled with the information an employer wants a worker
| to know, but are void of the content workers need to protect
| themselves.
|
| The Tech Worker Handbook is not a how-to, set of instructions,
| checklist, or call to action to whistleblow. Whistleblowing --
| the act of speaking up in order to improve a situation for others
| -- is an individual decision that should be made after a careful
| consideration of risks, options, and intended outcomes. My hope,
| though, is that those who do decide to take great risks in coming
| forward -- for all of us -- are better prepared and supported.
|
| ^ Excerpt from TFA. IMHO it's a good idea, cool resource. Not
| everyone has Frances Haugen's gumption and foresight.
| fidesomnes wrote:
| > Frances Haugen's gumption and foresight.
|
| Yeah if you mean hiring Obama's attorneys and orchestrating a
| media crush for not censoring people on the internet hard
| enough, I don't know what else you could mean.
| walshemj wrote:
| "Employee hand books" are useful to employees as it defines
| what various procedures and rights are.
| ethbr0 wrote:
| Ah, so employee handbooks inform their employees of their
| right to unionize (or refrain from unionizing) without
| threatening, interrogating, spying on pro-union employees, or
| promising benefits if employees forget about forming a union?
|
| https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-
| law/in...
| _3u10 wrote:
| Why would anyone making salary in the 1% (top 0.001%
| globally) range in the US want to unionize? I don't get
| this whole anti tech thing from tech.
| walshemj wrote:
| Why not George Clooney is a member of SAG (actors union)
| as is Daniel Craig.
| howtoquitwell wrote:
| Procedures and policies, yet. Rights, not so much, at least
| beyond those disclosures and documents they are legally
| required to share.
|
| As an example: it is a legally-protected right in many
| jurisdictions for employees to share compensation information
| with each other, or even externally. Many (most?) employers
| strongly discourage this practice, however, and will usually
| omit the notice that there are legal restrictions on their
| response in case employees choose to do so. Ditto labor
| organizing, many types of guaranteed leave, and most
| whistleblowing protections.
|
| The information asymmetry between most large employers and
| their employees w.r.t. legal rights is large, and the
| company's incentives are almost never aligned towards
| voluntary disclosure.
| walshemj wrote:
| Yes you have valid points but it does help when you have to
| take legal action - break your own procedure on grievance /
| discipline and you tend to lose in court.
| el_ravager wrote:
| Which is why it's sometimes necessary to go above the
| court and take the information straight to the people.
| [deleted]
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