Call for dedicated tech union as staff face axe, wage cuts

Split across several unions, tech workers say the situation is ‘untenable’ as they demand better protection from widespread sackings and deteriorating conditions.

LoungeBuddy founder Zac Altman says unions are needed to protect ‘the less sexy jobs’. Picture: Supplied.

Concern is growing among Australia’s tech sector about the lack of a dedicated union for workers, who are grappling with widespread lay-offs and disputes over outsourcing, pay and conditions.

Tech workers are currently split across several unions with fintech workers falling under the Financial Sector Union, retail store workers under the SDA, IT workers and gamers under Professionals Australia and the Australian Services Union taking care of IT, business and office equipment industries.

Some industry figures say the fragmentation is hurting the sector’s growth, and many tech workers approached by The Australian said they weren’t aware a union existed.

It comes as local Apple staff – of which there are about 4000 – have opposed wage cuts by the US tech giant, which has seen the Australian Services Union, fighting on their behalf, calling on the Fair Work Commission to intervene.

The Australian Services Union says proposed cuts would see wages go backwards by thousands of dollars per year and that staff could end up working up to 60 hours per week without overtime, claims disputed by Apple.

Meanwhile, Australian app developers and designers have joined a class action jointly run by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and Phi Finney McDonald which alleges Google and Apple’s 30 per cent in-app purchase commission is an abuse of power.

Brodie Haupt, the chief executive of fintech WLTH, said a dedicated, focused union could help tech workers fight wage disparity, an issue which had grown as high wages were used to lure workers amid the tight labour market.

“The tech sector in Australia is not immune to systemic issues such as discrimination, harassment, and workplace bias,” he said.

“Issues including wage disparities and lack of ongoing training and development that unions help to address can have a demoralising effect on the workforce, and ultimately hinder the growth of the sector.”

WLTH co-founder Brodie Haupt.

Asked if a dedicated tech union was necessary, ACTU assistant secretary Scott Connolly said workers should look to existing unions such as ASU, CWU and the PA.

“Without representation all workers are exposed to risk or the whims of bad employers. Having a union to advocate for stronger workplace policies and hold employers to task when it looks like they might be in breach helps minimise that risk,” he said.

There were several benefits to being a union member, one of which was salary, with union members paid on average $312 more than non-union members, Mr Connolly said.

“Unions offer protection, advice, and the advantage of having someone on your side looking after your interests, safety and wellbeing at work and delivering for you,” he said.

Joining a union allowed workers to have “a voice in the workplace” and would help them know their rights in the event of a redundancy.

Mass lay-offs have plagued the tech sector for several months, with many local workers also caught up in the downturn.

Tech Council chief executive Kate Pounder said roles in her industry were among the highest paid in the country and the council was looking to create more pathways into tech.

Tech Council CEO Kate Pounder her home in Canberra. Jamila Toderas/The Australian

“Our priority is creating even more pathways into these jobs for more Australians, working towards our shared goal with the Australian Government Of reaching 1.2 million tech workers by 2030.” she said.

“The TCA believes that on many issues, tech employers and unions share similar goals: we want to see more Australians work in the well paid and flexible jobs the tech industry creates.”

Tech wasn’t always packed with benefits, and in some industries such as banking, tech workers faced the same long hours and heavy workloads as others.

In the Fintech industry, job security was a major problem, said FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano.

“Fintech workers advise the union that their workplace issues include excessive hours, unreasonable workloads and job insecurity,” she said.

“These issues are in many ways common to other workers across the finance industry more broadly.

The FSU believes that fintech workers need and deserve a strong collective voice in the workplace.”

While many tech roles were high paid, unions are needed to protect “the less sexy jobs”, said Zac Altman, founder of LoungeBuddy.

“People might think tech unions are about protecting the high-paid senior software engineers getting $200k a year. They’re not,” he said.

“It’s about preventing the less sexy tech jobs from being shipped overseas – Junior Developers, QA, Design. But let’s face it – everyone started in one of these roles.”

Outsourcing was a “major threat” which could prevent young Australians from entering the tech workforce, Mr Altman said.

“The reality is that Covid showed a lot of businesses how easy remote work can be, so when cutting costs, it’s now 10 times easier to look at shifting jobs to cheaper cities and countries,” he said.

“Why would a founder pay twice as much for an engineer in Sydney when they can pay a fraction of that in Eastern Europe or India?

“Tech is one of the most remote-friendly jobs, putting it at the highest risk. It’s the easiest to outsource.”