Berlin Tech Worker News

Tech Won't Save Us: We Will! 🤗 It was lovely meeting many of you at our last social potluck 🥗 For those who attended and would like to support Bilgisaray/Mahalle community spaces 📆 Check out our upcoming events! 💸 30 January, 13:00-14:00 – Online Works Council: Addressing Pay Transparency 📝 15 February, 19:30 #39 Social Meetup – Come meet fellow members in Friedrichshain! 📚 22 February, 19:30 Reading Group – Join in discussion about this month's book, Encoding Race, Encoding Class: Indian IT Workers in Berlin. Free digital copies provided by emailing events@techworkersberlin.com. 🤝23–25 February, ver.di migrant seminar in English/German (for ver.di members only). 💡7 May –11 June, TWC Organizing 4 Power Training Series – For six Tuesday nights in a row we'll be hosting 2 hour skills-based trainings on the fundamentals of organizing. 🔗To get involved join an event and sign up here 💪

2023 was a challenging year for many of you, with (December) mass-layoffs, housing market bullshit, Kafkaesque bureaucracy at the Auslanderbehörder and more 😓 🤗 It was also a year of courage and organising. Over 1,000 of you have signed up to join TWC over the past 4.5 years. In 2023 alone. 20 new tech companies have works councils and increased workplace democracy for the first time 💪 📆 Upcoming events 🤯 4 January, 17:00-18:30 Online workshop for Delivery Hero workers laid off recently 📝 18 January, 18:30 Online Training - Foundations of Leadership in Democratic and Feminist organizations 🥗 20 January, 18:30 Social potluck/dinner in-person. Please register in advance! Our next general-meeting will be in February TBA Request to join our internal telegram group chat here

📆 Upcoming Events 🤗 23 Nov at 19:30 @ Warschauerstr 23: 🍻 Social meet up & Stammtisch 24 Nov at 17:30 @ Warschauerstr U-Bahn Black Friday Demo @BerlinVAmazon 25 Nov at 15:00 @ Kottbusser Tor 🏘 Housing advice @WorkersBerlin 30 Nov at 10:00 @ Magdeburger Platz 1 💙 Wolt Wage-theft Lawsuit 7 Dec at 19:30 @ Warschauerstr 23: 📚 Reading group: “More Than a Glitch”

📆November events 15 Nov at 18:30 @ ver.di: 🎓Intro to forming a Works Council 17 Nov at 19:00 @ syndikat:🍻 All Union Social Stammtische 23 Nov at 19:30 @ Warschauerstr 23: 🍻 Social meet up & Stammtische 7 Dec at 19:30 @ Warschauerstr 23: 📚 Reading group: “More Than a Glitch”

Tech Won’t Save Us! Organize! Over 100 tech workers representing 30+ companies met for two days to shake up the tech industry and make friendships 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 📆 Missed out? We have some exciting upcoming events 15 Nov at 18:30 @ ver.di: Intro to forming a Works Council 17 Nov at 19:00 @ syndikat: All Union Social Stammtische 23 Nov at 19:30 @ Warschauerstr 23: Social meet up & Stammtische 7 Dec at 19:30 @ Warschauerstr 23: 📚 Reading group: “More Than a Glitch”

On Friday we look forward to welcoming 100 English speaking Works Council members from 30 different companies. Full programme here. Prior registration is needed. Email conference@techworkersberlin.com if you have any questions 🤗 Registration for Saturday programme (free) is still open. Check out our programme and attend one of our future meetings ❤️

💛💜 BREAKING: After 2 years of delays, the @DWEnteignen launches a binding legislative referendum that the Berlin senate cannot ignore! Our Berlin. Our home. Our legislation! #Gesetzesvolksentscheid Learn more about the campaign at our tech conference October 14th!

🔥 Collectively building power in the tech industry is one way we can blossom change! 🌸 Conference Update 📣 2 day Tech Conference 13/14 October This is our annual conference — join us! 📆 Upcoming events 🧚‍General Meeting #37 & Stammtisch 7 September 📦 @BerlinVAmazon plenary at A100 camp 11 September 📚 Reading Group: Invisible Women 14 September 🫶 ver.di is freelancers conference, 16 September 💕 Labor.a 2023 conference 27 September featuring tech workers including TikTok 📰 Articles and In the news... (Photo credit goes to Leah Oswald) 🌊 We made a splash at Chaos Communication Camp last week! We gave 4 workshops, a skit and DJ'd a party! Amazon tower Last week 40 Amazon workers from across Germany and with @BerlinVAmazon protest in front of the Amazon tower An excellent op-ed by our familiar labour lawyer Daniel Weidman of DKA on the Left's need for new class consciousness, categories within the labor movement and beyond Request to join our telegram group

Make Amazon Pay! For good working conditions at Amazon and an Amazon Tower in public hands! On Tuesday, 22th of August at 14:30 o'clock we are protesting with 40 Amazon workers in front of Berlin "EDGE" Amazon Tower in for collective agreements and better conditions. Amazon is one of the biggest and richest companies of the world and we say loud and clear: the Billions they are making every year should transfered to the workers and the public hand. We are inviting everyone to join our protest tomorrow and support Amazon workers movement! ver.di Projekt Amazon Berlin-Brandenburg und Niedersachsen-Bremen Requests and informations / Anfragen und Infos: 015151429271 nonni.morisse@verdi.de

🎉 Stay Hydrated and enjoy the summer! 📅 Events 13 July: Reading group: Your boss is an algorithm at Warschauer Str. 23 17 July @BerlinVAmazon teach-in at B-Lage cafe 20 July - in person, our next monthly general meeting at Warschauer Str. 23 Oct 13-14: Join the largest English speaking network of works councils and tech workers. ✊🏼 Organising news 📻 Ableton employees elected their first Works Council with 11 members on 22 June 2023, and today was their first meeting in Berlin 👩🏻‍💻 Telus International: 920 employees (who moderate facebook/social media content) elected their first Works Council in Essen on 7 July 2023, with 666 going to trade union ver.di list. Telus International tried to intimidate employees and issue a legal injunction, but their efforts failed. A huge success for content moderators and social media users who care about a safer online space 💕 🦺📦🌩 Amazon Web Service: 644 employees elected on 22 June their first works council which represent AWS across Germany. A huge success for growing Amazon worker movement across different work sites! Are you working in tech and inspired/excited? Join our internal telegram group to connect with other tech workers!

Four years later @TechWorkersBER was founded in June 2019. Because of you, we are more active and stronger than ever! Join us! 📆 Events ⚖️ 8 June online we have our works council round table, join our group chat to get access https://t.me/+-7rD_lN0tP1kNjNi 🐻 8 June at 17:30 join @WorkersBerlin and BEMA event on Social/Migration law in Friedrichshain https://t.me/WorkersBerlin/8 🥊 22 June at 19:00: Our monthly general meeting https://techworkersberlin.com/events/general-meeting-35-stammtisch Learn more about the photo here: https://techworkersberlin.com/about

Join us on 25 May at 17:30 for a fun and educational event on labour + worker rights at the following address: Siegfried-Hirschmann- Park 1 10247 Berlin Germany More details below: https://workersberlin.com/events/labour-law-and-worker-rights

📰 Works Council Updates 💚📦 Yesterday HelloFresh employees elected their first Works Council in one of Berlin's largest tech companies, with an overwhelming victory for the worker-led HelloFuture list ❤️‍🩹 Shopify implemented mass-layoffs despite high profits this year. Berlin Shopify employees elected an Electoral Board 🤓 Thoughtwork'ers elected their Electoral Board today 📆 Events Join us in Bochum this weekend at the Streik Konferenz with other trade unionists! Our next general meeting is on 17 May at 19:00 Interested in joining our internal group chat? Request to join after answering some questions! https://t.me/+-7rD_lN0tP1kNjNi

📆 Upcoming events Support Wildcat strikes! 25 April 10:00 at LAG (2nd instance Labor Court) https://rechtaufstreik.noblogs.org/2023/04/aufruf-solidaritaet-mit-den-gorillas-beschaeftigten/ 26 April at 18:00, Online Q/A on Termination Agreements and Dismissal Protection. Register here: https://cloud.aktiv-vernetzt.de/apps/forms/s/nkDYHy7Wm5EsFSTHbCBTmnkj 28 April No Amazon Tower rally https://twitter.com/berlinvsamazon/status/1648289537100070913 1 May is International Workers day. Join us at Bethanien Mayfest stands throughout the day! More info forthcoming 17 May our 33rd Stammtische/General meeting 🗞️🪩 News and Conferences We've appeared at Berlin PyCon last week. This month we're going to Bochum, DE for Streik Konferenz and Tbilisi, Georgia for LabourStart! 🎶 Berlin Spotify formed a Works Council last week, 💚📦 HelloFresh has their Works Council elections on 11 May 2023!

Happy Easter, Chag Samaech, Ramadan Kareem and a long weekend for everyone! 🐇🌙🫓 Labor Organizing never stops. Breaks and recovery are a large part of it! See you at our in person meeting on April 19th! 🍻 https://techworkersberlin.com/events/general-meeting-33-stammtisch 📰 Labor laws make it more difficult to fire workers in France and Germany. Google and Amazon are no exception! https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-06/google-and-amazon-struggle-to-lay-off-workers-in-europe

We have 3 upcoming events and a save the date! (details on website: https://techworkersberlin.com/) 🥊 March 23rd: 19:00 Migrant organizing in tech (sponsored by Lohana Berkins and Bloque Latinoamericano Berlin) 💸 March 29th 18:00: Got laid off? Know other companies where layoffs are happening? Zoom registration mandatory https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEuce-trTkqEtxauMfU-2pDcQyMBH4Qu-VI 🦋 April 19th 19:00: Our next monthly general meeting in person at Stadtteilbüro Friedrichshain 💥 October 13/14th 2023: English speaking Tech Labour Conference in Berlin! Get in touch if you want to attend or volunteer! conference@techworkersberlin.com 🗞️ A united front of Meta/TikTok content moderators met up last week to beat back big-tech https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-and-metas-moderators-form-a-united-front-in-germany/ To join our internal group chat, request so here https://t.me/+-7rD_lN0tP1kNjNi we vett all members, so prepare to share why you want to join 😄

❗️❗️❗️Change of location ❗️❗️❗️ Due to unexpected logistical issues (the facilitator forgot to book the venue for the meeting 🙄), we are moving the general meeting to Burgermeister in Warschauer Str. 65, 10243 Berlin. It might be a bit loud but hey, there will be fries.

📆Wednesday 15th of March ⏰19:00 📍Stadtteilbüro Friedrichshain, Warschauer Str. 23 Another month, another general meeting. Join us to discover what TWC Berlin is up to, to discuss the most recent news in tech organizing and to participate in the most 🔥🔥🔥organization in town. You can find the agenda for the meeting on our website: https://techworkersberlin.com/events/general-meeting-32-stammtisch