Working Partnerships USA

This morning, we released a new study on Silicon Valley’s “invisible workforce” — the cafeteria workers, janitors, security officers, and other people who keep tech campuses running.

The key takeaway: tech giants’ commitments to their service workers have meant over 14,000 people can make rent, see a doctor, and pay bills during the pandemic.

The people who cook, clean, and protect these tech campuses are as much tech workers as programmers and engineers. In many cases they’ve devoted their careers to the industry. And through years of powerful organizing side by side with community members like you, they’ve won higher wages, full-family health insurance, and — perhaps most importantly — a growing recognition by the industry that they are an integral part of the tech workforce.

In the early days of COVID-19, that organizing led nearly all major Silicon Valley tech corporations to announce they would maintain pay and benefits for their subcontracted workers while campuses are closed. This has been a crucial anchor of stability for the Black and Brown communities that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 — 64% of unionized tech service workers are Black or Latinx.

Yet in the past couple months, a few outliers like Yahoo (now owned by Verizon) and Lyft have chosen to abandon their workers. They’ve taken away wages and healthcare from several hundred people in the middle of a pandemic.

If the rest of the tech industry were to follow suit, it would have devastating impacts on thousands of families. Our study looks at what the impact would be if Silicon Valley tech giants laid off their thousands of subcontracted blue-collar workers. Among the findings:

• The number of unemployed workers in Silicon Valley could increase by more than 10%.
• Up to 12,000 service workers could lose health insurance coverage, along with family members who depend on the coverage.
• An estimated 6,500 families with children could be at risk of being unable to pay rent.
• An estimated 8,300 renters could be at risk of being unable to pay rent.

There’s no excuse for tech giants not to maintain their commitments to these workers, especially when those corporations continue to make billions.

Silicon Valley’s tech firms have continued to prosper during the pandemic. The biggest tech companies — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Netflix — have seen stock prices rise over 45% year to date, hitting historic highs and a combined value of over $5.5 trillion. These corporations have also received billions in public subsidies and tax incentives, including at least $654 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

These tech companies have a responsibility to maintain their commitments to the people who have worked hard for years to keep tech campuses running safely and smoothly.

Last week, while immigrant workers fasted on the Capitol’s doorstep, praying for the passage of AB 3216 to give them a light at the end of the long tunnel of 2020, Governor Newsom ignored their calls and vetoed the bill.

AB 3216 would have ensured that hospitality, janitorial and airport workers can return to their jobs when COVID-19 shutdowns end.

The late-night veto of AB 3216 is a huge disappointment to the hospitality workers of UNITE HERE, who fought so hard for a right of recall, and to all of us allies who stood with them: from women’s organizations, immigrant rights advocates, grassroots communities, faith leaders, racial justice organizations, and solidarity from unions and workers’ organizations across the state and nation – all the way to the professional sports players of the NFL, MLB and NHL, who all called on Newsom to support hospitality workers and sign the bill.

But now we go onward. If Governor Newsom blocks workers’ rights, we will turn to our cities — many of which have already passed local rights of recall — to community solidarity, and if necessary, to the streets.

To quote Maria Sanchez, one of the courageous hotel workers who fought for AB 3216: “I came to the Capitol with hope in my heart that the Governor would hear my story and stand with me…Instead I see that I will depend on my co-workers so that we can defend ourselves against the power of mega-corporations.”

Today, I caravaned with hundreds of workers from across the state to deliver a letter urging Governor Gavin Newsom to sign AB 3216, which would protect the jobs of hotel and service workers through rights of recall and retention.

Will you join us in calling on Governor Newsom to support job security for hundreds of thousands of workers like me who were laid off due to COVID-19?

I’m Miguel de la Mora, and I’ve worked at the Fairmont San Jose hotel since 1990. I have three children. Two are still in school and my oldest has a family of her own. By building my career at the Fairmont, I have been able to provide stability for my family and a good life for my children. Having health benefits all these years meant that I could make sure my kids were healthy and go the doctor when they needed. And through thirty years of hard work and saving, a few years ago we were finally able to buy a house. 

I never imagined losing my job to a pandemic. But COVID-19 hit our communities and industry hard, and in March I received a layoff letter. My family is suffering. We are surviving collecting unemployment, but it doesn’t come close to what I was earning just 7 months ago. I don’t know how my family will make it if I can’t return to my career in the hospitality industry. Unfortunately, the hospitality industry may not recover and our jobs may not come back until well into 2021.

That’s why I’m participating in the Caravan to Sacramento with my coworkers to urge Governor Newsom to sign AB 3216 — a bill that would protect hundreds of thousands of service workers with the “right to recall.” If passed, it would mean that employers like the Fairmont Hotel are required to offer jobs first to existing, longtime workers when workplaces reopen and business comes back.

I am a professional, and it’s workers like me who deliver high class service and keep our industries running. Our industry needs longtime workers who know how to reopen safely and successfully. Knowing that I will have a good job to return to is so import for the stability of my family. 

AB 3216 will help to ensure that as California recovers, working families like mine are not left behind. 

Please support workers like me in winning our jobs back.

In solidarity,

Miguel
Banquet Server at Fairmont San Jose
Member of UNITE HERE Local 19

We need job security for hundreds of thousands of service workers like me who have lost our jobs due to COVID-19.

When I moved to San Jose from Mexico 24 years ago, I wanted to build a stable home and a bright future for my children so they have the opportunity to study and pursue their dreams. While working as a banquet server at the DoubleTree Hotel for the last 17 years, I carefully saved up money from my hard-won earnings, and I enjoyed great health coverage that my union fought to win. In 2016, I was able to fulfill my dream of buying a home for my family – including my 12-year old son and 7-year old daughter. 

In March, my coworkers and I were laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have been told it could be until April 2021 or later that we are called back to work. Now – like so many people – I am just barely paying my bills with unemployment payments and cutting into my savings to put food on the table.

I am grateful that my children have a yard to play in, but I’m scared that if one of them gets injured or sick, I won’t be able to pay for their health care because I’ve lost the health coverage I had through my job.

I’m scared that when it’s finally safe to re-open, my employer could use the pandemic as an opportunity to discriminate against longtime workers who have dedicated years of our life to these jobs. In the hospitality industry, so many service workers are immigrant women like me who have also fought to improve conditions across our industry. 

That’s why I’m asking you to email your senator today in support of AB 3216 – a bill that would protect hundreds of thousands of service workers with the “right of recall.” If passed, it would mean that employers like the DoubleTree are required to offer jobs first to existing, longtime workers once workplaces reopen and jobs come back.

I know how to do my job best, and it is workers like me who keep our industries running. Our employers need longtime workers who know the ins and outs of our jobs to safely and successfully reopen. And knowing I have a good job to return to would be one less worry in the long list of worries I have for my family.

AB 3216 will help to ensure that as California recovers, working families like mine are not left behind. The stability and wellbeing of our families is critical for the health of our whole state.

In solidarity,

Dolores
Banquet Server at San Jose DoubleTree by Hilton
Member of UNITE HERE Local 19