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Extend Unemployment Payments & Ensure Overpayment Relief for Gig WorkersMore than 7.3 million gig workers, independent contractors, and self-employed workers will see their unemployment benefits cut on December 26 if the government doesn’t act. Millions of people who work for gig companies, such as Uber and Lyft drivers, were directed to apply for unemployment benefits through the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Only some have been able to access state unemployment benefits. In any event, these benefits were—and continue to be—extremely meager. The average payment given to workers is between $114 and $357 a week—below the poverty line in most states. Now, some people who were directed to apply for PUA are even being notified that they have been overpaid and may be responsible for returning the overpaid amount . This is not only unrealistic, it is inhumane. Many gig workers are behind on rent and struggling to keep food on the table, and do not have extra cash on hand to return to the state. While drivers, couriers, and shoppers are struggling to stay safe and pay their bills, gig corporations have gotten richer and have not paid a dime into state unemployment insurance funds. For example, through misclassifying their workers, Uber and Lyft avoided paying a total of $413 million into California’s unemployment insurance fund between 2014 and 2019. Sign on today and stand with gig workers who are demanding an extension on their benefits and relief for any overpayment.671 of 800 SignaturesCreated by Gig Workers Rising
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Give Sex Workers a Voice on OnlyFans!Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many sex workers have relied heavily on OnlyFans to make a living, and in so doing, have helped to accelerate the growth of the platform and increase the profits of the company overall. In response to this surge in growth and some of the complications that have come with it, the platform has introduced new policies that have hurt these workers’ ability to make the money they need to survive, thus compromising their quality of life. The recent decision to lower the amount of money creators can receive via tips and pay-to-view messages has resulted in lost income for many. OnlyFans has also failed to address existing issues, such as the discrimination its creators face on other platforms, which limits their ability to self-promote. While sex workers do not account for the whole of OnlyFans’ creator base, they constitute a significant presence on the platform and notably played a meaningful role in launching the platform into the public consciousness. Unfortunately, due to societal stigma, they are also a uniquely vulnerable population--and this stigma is further compounded for BIPOC and trans workers, who are disproportionately impacted by policies that hinder their ability to work. We believe that as long as OnlyFans continues to profit off the labor of these creators, the company also has a responsibility to protect them and to craft its policies in ways that do not disproportionately penalize, censor, or otherwise interfere with their ability to work and survive.1,464 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Avery Mauel
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Put an end to all forms of discrimination and retaliation at PinterestIfeoma Ozoma, Aerica Shimizu Banks, and Francoise Brougher have accused Pinterest of racial, and gender discrimination. These are not isolated cases. Instead, they are representative of an organizational culture that hurts all Pinterest workers, and keeps us from achieving our mission of bringing everyone the inspiration to create a life they love. We recognize that Pinterest has been a leader in diversity and inclusive hiring, with the diversity goals for new hires. It's become clear that this is not enough, and that the diversity goals need to apply from the top down, not just the bottom up. Not only will diverse and inclusive leadership prevent discrimination and harassment among workers, it will help us build a product that is relevant on a global scale. Other worker groups at Starbucks, Uber, and Etsy have been successful in driving positive change, and we want to follow their lead.463 of 500 SignaturesCreated by Change at Pinterest
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Lovestruck Game Writers Deserve Fair Pay!All of the Lovestruck writers are members of marginalized genders and/or sexualities. Voltage has given us an invaluable foot in the door to the industry and a platform to tell stories that represent our voices, our passion, and our experiences. We are also all fans of the app, and we care deeply about the stories we tell. We don't want this to be the end of our partnership with Lovestruck, nor does it have to be. However, the conditions under which we are currently working are untenable. Not only are we paid less than half the industry standard in both base pay and our raises, we are not provided with information about how the routes we write perform either. The increased base pay that Voltage is currently offering is still well below the industry standard. We are eager to have an open and honest conversation with management in order to work together to settle on an equitable rate. The ultimate goal of the contract writers of Lovestruck is to see our hard work and commitment to authentic storytelling given the value it deserves, which will allow us to continue to provide loyal Lovestruck fans with the top-notch content they deserve. We've seen the support for our request for equitable pay and improved conditions come pouring in across social media, and it means the world to us. We cannot thank you enough! By signing this petition, you add your voice to the chorus of Lovestruck fans, game workers, romance writers, organizations, and more in inviting Voltage executives to hop on a call with us to discuss these matters. Thanks again for your incredible support! 🖤🤎❤️🧡💛💚💙💜4,145 of 5,000 SignaturesCreated by Voltage Writers
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Googlers Against Racism - Strike For Black LivesActing in solidarity with the July 20th Strike for Black Lives, Googlers Against Racism call on Alphabet to take stronger action in dismantling racism and advancing equity across our company in solidarity with the communities that host our offices. Alphabet has an unprecedented opportunity to be a global leader in antiracist corporate action. Google’s recent commitments to racial equity are commendable and represent the first step, but Alphabet continues to build products, conduct employment practices, and impact communities in ways that increase racial disparities - actions that cause particular harm for Black+ workers and users. One of the demands of the Strike for Black Lives is that “Corporations take immediate action to dismantle racism, white supremacy, and economic exploitation wherever it exists, including in our workplaces.” We look forward to Google setting the standard for anti-racist corporate leadership. In addition to the demands in our other petition on ending police contracts, we believe there are meaningful ways that Google can respond to the pain many are expressing. The demands are common-sense actions that the company should take in the short term to show that it takes its responsibility in dismantling racism seriously. We are under no illusion that these demands are comprehensive or sufficient to dismantle our company’s role in continuing systemic racism. However, not to address these concerns represents a failure on the part of leadership to meet the moment. We have a long way to go to correct for centuries of harm, and we must seize every opportunity we can to build a society that is consistent with our values. Let’s start with a meeting to work together on this.1,141 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Googlers Against Racism
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Say the words! Solidarity means saying "Black Lives Matter"Recently Whole Foods workers have been sent home for wearing Black Lives Matter paraphernalia at work, on the grounds that they are somehow controversial. Respectfully, we beg to differ. As an Amazon employee, and a Black American descendant of enslaved peoples in this country, I must say, that anyone who believes that the words Black Lives Matter, are controversial suffers from an unfortunate delusional state induced by years of conditioning in white supremacist ideology. Workers should not be forced to choose between earning a living, and asserting that the lives of other human beings have value. Whole Foods is wholly wrong to have ever enforced this policy. Nothing short of a full throated apology and a sincere commitment to sit down, shut up, and LISTEN to us, will do at this point. This is not a request. It is a demand. Words have meaning, and you can't claim to be in solidarity with the Black community, and then show the reckless indifference to Black and Latinx lives that Amazon is demonstrating currently. While you're here sign our petition to shut down DSF4 for deep cleaning. We've had 3 confirmed cases of COVID 19 reported in the last month and management is lax about enforcing social distancing unless it's to get rid of an organizers like Hibaq Mohamed or myself. Workers should not be retaliated against for speaking up for the safety of themselves and their colleagues. Standing in solidarity in the fight against systemic racism and injustice means being willing to say that Black Lives Matter AND act on that truth by treating Black employees with the dignity and respect that we deserve.514 of 600 SignaturesCreated by John Hopkins
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Close DSF4 for deep cleaning and pay workers for the time off work.Amazon has made numerous statements in the recent pass saying that it supports Black lives - for instance in a twitter post it wrote: "The inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our country must stop. Together we stand in solidarity with the Black community — our employees, customers, and partners — in the fight against systemic racism and injustice." Black and Latinx people are significantly more likely to be impacted by coronavirus than people of other backgrounds. This is the result of the systemic racism and injustice Amazon claims to stand in solidarity with us against. If that's the case, they should be willing to forego the service of this facility long enough to ensure that workers are as safe as they possibly can be. 1 preventable death is unacceptable. Shut down this facility in defense of Black lives!3,180 of 4,000 SignaturesCreated by John Hopkins
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No Racist Tech in Arlington, VA!We are a group of Arlingtonians, tech industry employees, and allies who are demanding a permanent end to any partnership negotiations between the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) and Amazon’s Ring. We demand that you reinvest the funds that would be used in this partnership into programs like affordable housing, education, and mental health support. This will allow our communities to thrive and move away from a world where the police are needed. In this moment of uprising and protest in response to the despicable, racist attacks against Black people and the police murders of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, George Floyd, and countless other Black people, we need our local government to take bold action to protect Black lives. Who, exactly, does Ring and this culture of policing and surveillance protect? Because of HQ2, Amazon’s greed is already displacing our Black and Brown neighbors with rising housing costs, we don’t need Amazon’s Ring to profit off of mass surveillance, racial profiling, and incarceration of Black Arlingtonians. We know how to take care of ourselves and our communities. We don't need the police, nor their racist technology. Ring’s partnership with the police violates our privacy and criminalizes people. As we have seen with facial recognition software, technology is not neutral, and in this case it amplifies the racist, violent behavior of the police as they terrorize our communities and encourages civilians to do the same[1] [2]. Users of these apps use code words like “suspicious”, “strangers”, and “I saw someone who looks like they don’t belong here”. This creates an arbitrary environment of policing each other, giving rich white people the power to decide who belongs. Ring claims that police are required to follow a protocol to view footage captured by Ring home surveillance cameras. However, Amazon’s Ring/Neighbors applications are available to anyone regardless of whether they own a Ring home “security” system. This allows law enforcement to bypass any legal requirement and directly access video footage from homeowners' Ring cameras. Furthermore, Ring’s privacy notice states that Amazon may share Ring users' information with their affiliates, subsidiaries, service providers, and business partners [3]. Furthermore, law enforcement can request neighborhood footage using a subpoena, even if the resident refused to provide those recordings [4]. ACPD and Amazon work together—maintained by citizen policing and complicit silence—to constantly watch, and thus police and incarcerate Black people in Arlington for profit. You do not want to be on the wrong side of history in this vital moment. Other government officials are acting right now to stop surveillance and racist facial recognition technology [5]: Senators are introducing a bill [6], while the Boston city council successfully voted on a ban [7]. Our demand is clear: immediately and permanently cancel any data sharing partnership and/or negotiations between the ACPD and Ring/Neighbors App and invest those funds to support Arlingtonians in need of affordable housing, education, and mental health support. Follow our Instagram @RacistTechOutOfVA + Twitter @NoRacistTechVA If you live outside Arlington, you can still sign and support! Sources: [1] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43kga3/amazon-is-coaching-cops-on-how-to-obtain-surveillance-footage-without-a-warrant [2] https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/09/01/nextdoor-when-a-neighborhood-website-turns-unneighborly/ [3] https://shop.ring.com/pages/privacy-notice [4] https://www.govtech.com/security/Amazons-Ring-Video-Camera-Alarms-Privacy-Advocates.html [5] https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/how-is-face-recognition-surveillance-technology-racist [6] https://www.govtech.com/policy/US-Senator-Pushes-for-Government-Ban-on-Facial-Recognition.html [7] https://www.masslive.com/boston/2020/06/boston-city-council-votes-to-become-largest-city-on-east-coast-to-ban-facial-recognition-technology.html81 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Racist Tech Out of VA!
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Hey Google: Stop Retaliation and Scare Tactics Against WorkersIf Google can't be trusted to support workers who speak out against illegal and unethical activities at the company, how can it be trusted to hold the world's information in a responsible, unbiased, and ethical way? Illegal retaliation also hurts us all in promoting homogeneous workplaces, which stifles workplace inclusivity and diversity.311 of 400 Signatures
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It’s Time to Recognize the Kickstarter UnionAs Game Workers Unite co-founder and tech industry labor organizer Emma Kinema said in her recent XOXO speech, Kickstarter's mission to democratize the way in which people create art, music, games, tech, and writing is a noble and important pursuit, and it is only natural that it is at Kickstarter where we are seeing one of the first tangible signs of democratizing a tech industry workplace through unionization. Workers throughout tech, games, and many traditionally unorganized industries are watching, cheering on, and standing with the workers of Kickstarter in solidarity. Kickstarter United has sparked all of our imaginations and have our fullest support. Stand with them today!3,257 of 4,000 SignaturesCreated by Game Workers
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Slack: Add a Block Button to Protect Victims of Harassment“Hey, do you know if I can block someone on Slack?” a friend texted me. Someone at her workplace had a crush on her, and he wouldn’t stop sending creepy messages over Slack—the platform she is required to use for many hours a day to do her job. She therefore couldn’t ignore it every time it pings her with messages, even though they were often from her harasser. Though she could attempt to avoid him physically in the office, as soon as she opened her computer, her dot would turn green. Because her coworkers need to know where she is, it meant he could see whenever she was online, too. He would immediately start messaging her; she felt like she had nowhere to hide. As it turns out, Slack does not have the functionality for a user to mute or block anyone. This is despite the fact nearly every social network now gives you the ability to block someone: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram all offer easy ways to mute and block users, and they even have dedicated channels to help users through this process. But Slack technically isn’t a social network, even if it’s used socially. Slack views itself as a tool, an infrastructure for production and producing. From alumni organizations to conferences and meet ups, it helps businesses and employees plan, document, and work. The friend I mentioned earlier uses Slack as the main method of communication with her coworkers. Without it, she couldn’t plan meetings, share links, or document her progress for projects. You can’t simply choose not to use that tool without causing a significant workplace fallout. This is a scenario many women and marginalized groups suffer through: someone makes them feel uncomfortable, but if they raise the issue, it may reflect badly on them for overreacting. So they don’t say anything at all, and continue putting up with the microagressions. Online harassment can affect anyone, but it affects marginalized groups the most. On most social-media platforms, a victim can block a harasser and file a harassment report. But Slack doesn’t even mention harassment in their policies. In its “Acceptable Use Policy,” it only outlines that Slack cannot be used for inciting hatred or violence against individuals or groups. The company doesn’t have an official page—or even a blog post—on what to do when their product is used to harass people. Everyone should have the ability to mute, block, and generally augment their experiences online, because having the ability to tailor your privacy settings and how people can reach you creates safety. Ideally your workplace has a system in place to mitigate both online and offline harassment—but what happens if that person doesn’t stop? It’s time for Slack to catch up with other tech platforms and do more to protect victims of harassment.2,766 of 3,000 SignaturesCreated by Caroline sinders
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Tell Netflix CEO Reed Hastings that gender & pregnancy discrimination is wrongMy name is Lisa, and I'm an actor and a mom who has acted on multiple Netflix shows. Throughout my career, I’ve watched as women across my industry (writers, producers, actors, and tech workers) have been discriminated against as soon as they decide to start a family. That must end. Now. This month, former Netflix manager Tania Zarak bravely spoke out after she was fired by Netflix. When Tania told her boss that she was pregnant, Tania says her boss began isolating her, excluding her from meetings, and even removing her from Netflix shows. After enduring this treatment for weeks, Tania did what we’re supposed to do - complain to HR. But she said Netflix HR notified her boss, who became angry and called her in for a meeting. That’s when Tania’s boss asked when her due date was and encouraged her to quit. Tania refused. Incredibly, the next day, Tania’s boss fired her.[1] THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. I’ve watched this happen again and again, but didn't expect this from Netflix, the largest and most profitable company in our industry, especially now in the #MeToo #TimesUp era. Despite boasting about its leave policy while recruiting potential employees, Netflix has a track record of inequity on this issue. A former Netflix HR director alleged that as Netflix promotes its leave policy, behind closed doors, Netflix secretly pressures and forces out employees who get pregnant and/or take leave because Netflix HR executives said that “women in particular that take such time are not serious about their careers.”[2] Netflix also previously only provided paid parental leave to some employees, leading workers in its DVD department to launch a public campaign to pressure Netflix to offer paid family leave for all employees.[3] The casts and crews on sets I’ve worked on have been treated with respect and humanity. I want to know that this culture extends to all divisions of a company that I work for, and support with my subscription dollars, as I'm guessing many of you do as well. What happened to Tania is especially awful because Netflix hides its actions behind its family leave policy. It's not enough for Netflix to offer family leave if Netflix then retaliates and fires employees who become pregnant and try to take it! PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION & SHOW NETFLIX THAT WE STAND WITH TANIA AND WORKING MOMS WHO STAND UP TO DISCRIMINATION. [1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6882153/Former-Netflix-manager-39-sues-streaming-giant-claiming-fired-pregnant.html [2] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/netflix-settles-executive-claiming-widespread-sexual-harassment-1050313 [3] https://www.coworker.org/petitions/netfix-extend-paid-parental-leave-policy-to-all-employees4,462 of 5,000 SignaturesCreated by Lisa