Will both candidate hold pushing ahead for labor? The reply is just not so clear. Monied tech pursuits are lining up on either side to advocate for looser regulation. Whereas pro-Trump enterprise capitalists Andreessen and Ben Horowitz cited euphemistic “unhealthy authorities insurance policies” because the primary menace to the tech trade, the Silicon Valley powers that be on Harris’s facet haven’t precisely come out swinging for labor. Actually, Hoffman stated that the FTC’s Khan is “waging battle on American enterprise” and urged Harris to fireplace her.
It’s not evident but if Harris shares the views of her billionaire supporters, however she’s definitely chasing their cash. A current Harris marketing campaign fundraiser in San Francisco bagged $13 million from a visitor checklist replete with tech executives. And the vp is reportedly courting tech bosses extra instantly, sending aides to satisfy with crypto leaders and enterprise capital corporations. Her ties to the trade are long-standing and infrequently private; she’s recognized to be shut with each former Fb COO Sheryl Sandberg and Laurene Powell Jobs, and her brother-in-law is Uber’s chief authorized officer.
Whereas Harris’s staff has been having conversations and exploring choices, it has not but introduced any financial agenda or strategy to regulation, innovation, or labor. It’s savvy to get the cash first with out making public guarantees. However Harris must be attempting to court docket our votes, too—not simply our bosses’ monetary help. In current reminiscence, employees within the tech trade have demonstrated progressive vitality. Whereas campaigning in 2020, Bernie Sanders proudly voiced solidarity with employees in opposition to their billionaire bosses. And tech employees turned out for him, donating extra to Bernie than to some other presidential candidate throughout the primaries—near twice as a lot as to Elizabeth Warren, the second-favorite candidate for the group. Harris might leverage that form of energy in November if she actually commits to the trigger.
Now’s the second for Harris to step up and make an announcement in help of employees, promising to proceed, if not broaden upon, the Biden-Harris strategy to Massive Tech. Some could keep in mind that when she ran for president in 2020, Senator Harris sided with Uber drivers and in opposition to her brother-in-law’s pursuits throughout a struggle about gig employees’ rights in California. Unions like ours—in addition to any American who believes that truthful labor practices are important to a functioning democracy—can proceed to use stress on Harris and her staff to take a robust stand for employee rights and protections. Certainly, the United Auto Staff (UAW) filed federal labor fees in opposition to Trump and Musk after these careless feedback on the Areas occasion, whereas President Biden walked a picket line with hanging auto employees. Voices like theirs and ours—the voices of the tons of of 1000’s of employees we signify—will proceed to be raised. If we aren’t heard, we’ll get louder.
The stakes in November are excessive, and the one actually democratic future is one with truthful wages, employee protections, and shared abundance. Tech elites stand in united opposition to such a future and are actively creating the AI instruments to undermine it. Tech employees will proceed to broaden our collective energy to struggle these elites. The one open query is whether or not the following administration shall be on our facet or theirs.
Stephen McMurtry is a Google Software program Engineer and Communications Chair of the Alphabet Staff Union-CWA
