Editors’ Note — Issue 2, Speak Out

A mass of undersea cables, millions of quietly humming servers and soaring cellular towers keep the world going today. Behind this infrastructure lies the labour of millions of technology and other workers, who conceptualise, design, build and maintain it. What happens when these workers speak out against exploitation and injustice?

In India, we recently saw how much communication technology can influence the polity of a country. Executives in Facebook India were revealed to be collaborating with the BJP before and after it came into power. The role of Facebook in helping the BJP come to power, and in maintaining its power through biased moderation of content, was also exposed.

One interesting part of these revelations has not been written about much. It was Facebook employees who spoke to journalists and allowed this story to come out. Technology workers can bring down any edifice that upholds exploitation and bigotry worldwide. But to do this, they need protection from arbitrary action by their employer and the state. They need to have a safety net that ensures their survival even if they lose their jobs. Most of all, they need to be united with all other technology workers. This is one of the motives that fuels AIITEU’s work.

This is also why our issue this month is called Speak Out. Within these pages you will find a telecom employee’s analysis of why her work life is so miserable; a freelancer’s story about freelancer support networks and why they are not enough; an account of what happens when gig workers unionise and speak out against inhuman treatment. You will also find a brief sketch of the student movement and trade union work of Shyamal Chakraborty, our recently departed Vice President. Towards the end, Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, reminds us that technology workers must care about a lot more than their own immediate issues. He writes about the suffering of the peasantry and the toiling masses, and shows us why worker-peasant solidarity is the need of the hour.

We hope you find these articles illuminating. We know that perspectives straight from technology workers are not easy to find elsewhere. We also know that publications written for technology workers do not usually cover these subjects. We look forward to your feedback on this issue.

Happy reading!

Warmly,

The Editorial Team