On this day of strike, processions crowd the streets to protest against the draft law to reform the pension system. Among the demonstrators, workers from all sectors... Including tech, often forgotten by social struggles. The large family of professions related to new technologies brings together very different professions and realities, on the side of developers or in the video game industry. One thing in common: being a sector where unionization is low. However, since the protests against the 2016 labor law, new forms of engagement are emerging in the tech industries.

This is particularly the case in video games, with the creation of the National Union of Video Game Workers (STJV) in 2017. "It started from different groups of people who got in touch and realized the need to defend themselves in video games, even more than before," explains Antoine, one of its members. The union aims to be independent, to best meet the specific needs of the sector. "Tech is a sector very subject to the capitalist market, we talk about suffering at work linked to an intensive rhythm, contradictory instructions, risks of psychosocial violence... " adds Marie, member of the STJV. More recently, in 2019, it is on the side of developers and other tech professions that the On est la tech collective was created, whose call brought together nearly 3,000 signatories. "We wanted people to go out on the street, meet, organize with people who do not always come from the sector," explains Kévin, a member of the collective. The pension reform bill was then a new opportunity for unions and collectives to mobilize.

A sector with little unionization

Historically, the tech sector has not been the most accustomed to protests and pickets. "Tech is traditionally not very politicized and unionized. There is a double image: on the one hand the tradition linked to a libertarian philosophy and the development of free software; but above all an entrepreneurial culture, like a start-up nation," sums up Kévin. As for the video game industry, "it is a very non-politicized environment, which has not necessarily known the unions," points out Antoine of the STJV. Especially since the demographics of the sector are different: tech workers are often young. "There is a lot of turnover, people are starting from exhaustion, and have not experienced all the momentum of some social mobilizations. And then we have a particularity in the video game sector, it is the presence of many queer people, who struggle and are politicized, which creates a real emulation in this sector, "adds Marie.

Especially since if unions exist in tech, they have long had a bad image: the corporate culture of start-ups or other video game studios is often based on an idea of "big family", where relationships are relaxed, which makes it more complex to confront employers. "And there are also plenty of people who feel closer to a Silicon Valley billionaire than a worker," Kevin quips. The tech sector is also marked by the presence of many self-employed workers, accustomed to self-entrepreneurship. But above all, for a long time, tech was seen as a professional Eldorado. "It is also very much linked to the functioning of the industry: until recently, it was full employment, we were highly sought-after and well-paid profiles," explains Kévin. But the wind is turning in Silicon Valley: Google, Meta, Twitter, Microsoft or Spotify are largely laying off... This pushes workers to get closer to unions and collectives of struggle.

Learning to strike

For several months, the STJV and On est la tech have been multiplying initiatives to "make it clear that we would also be affected by the pension reform", as Kevin explains, and try to convince their colleagues to take to the streets. "These are sectors where there is no tradition of strikes, so we must recall labour law, and educate on how the strike works," he adds. On the side of the STJV, "we try to make people realize that they will have a retirement, and that if the beginning of career is very choppy or that we chain periods of unemployment, we will leave late, and it begins to sting" recalls Antoine. In short, recontextualize and repoliticize. "It's a fundamental work that we do: what is a demonstration, what is a strike, how does it work... We have a lot of first times, first banners," adds Marie.

In these unions or tech collectives, the goal is to show that there are concrete ways to fight for their rights, but also to build bridges with other organizations. "When we launched the collective, we had a lot of developers with skills, and we created a working group to serve other organizations," says Kévin. Since then, On est la tech organizes pre-event meetings (so as not to walk alone), assemblies to organize. "We want to take the step of going to the streets and creating a link with other people." If the date of March 7 was long awaited, Kevin recalls that their fight will continue on March 8, International Women's Day, in particular to highlight feminist struggles and the question of the feminization of tech professions.

  • Tech
  • By the Web
  • Strike
  • Pension reform 2023
  • Video games
  • Startup