Identity CrisisIdentity Crisis

What can or should business-technology workers do to ensure that their voices get heard? Activism may be an answer, but there's no consensus on what form that should take. Before last week's picketing, Snyder attended his first protest against offshore outsourcing on Labor Day outside the Bank of America in Concord, Calif. "I ran into hundreds of people like me, getting close to 40 or in their 40s, who had been earning at the high end of the spectrum before but now couldn't even get a job interview," he says. "Engineers who never thought they'd need any kind of solidarity not only need it, but need it urgently."

The issue of unionization isn't new, but it may be gaining traction. The Washington Technology Council, an offshoot of the Communication Workers of America, has 275 dues-paying members. Another CWA affiliate, Alliance@IBM, is made up of IBM employees. Both work to promote employee concerns, such as retirement benefits and off-shore outsourcing, and influence legislation.

But many technology workers say the union mentality just isn't part of the IT personality. Gilbert Staffend, an unemployed IT consultant in Michigan, says many in his profession associate unions with blue-collar work. "Our socialization has always been this: We're told we are professionals," he says. Even so, Staffend says he has witnessed several unionizing efforts, and in every case, "management succeeded in union-busting." Another stumbling block: The needs of diverse IT workers--from programmers to E-commerce specialists--aren't the same, so it would be hard for them to agree on an agenda.

CIOs face a dilemma. They recognize the plight of employees, but they also know they have to use the most efficient models to keep costs down. John McGregor, CIO of Sweetheart Cup Co., uses IT services firm E5 Systems Inc. for some application-development work in China, because Sweetheart doesn't have the resources to build those apps. "Ideally, you'd like to have all the work being done here," McGregor says. But he doesn't think most IT workers would like the structure of a union working environment. "So much of what we do is based on individual performance," he says. "As an individual, you can succeed and move up very quickly. When you have a unionized shop, it's different. There's more definition of what you can and can't do, so it's more restrictive."

Besides unions, there are groups such as the Programmers Guild and The Organization for the Rights of American Workers, both of which were lobbying forces behind several bills introduced in Congress in recent months that seek to curb the use of overseas technologists. Still, their memberships number only in the hundreds. John Bauman, president of TORAW, says people fear they'll be blacklisted if they join. Another reason might be the groups' extreme positions. TORAW and the Programmers Guild say American jobs should go to American workers first, no matter what. That's a stance many IT professionals may not necessarily agree with.

Other organizations, such as the 380,000-strong Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, have historically been focused on technical issues and have only recently gotten involved in labor issues. John Steadman, president-elect of the IEEE-USA, testified last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee about alleged abuses of the L-1 visa program and the group's support for reducing the H-1B visa cap.

One interesting hybrid organization is Techs Unite, a project of the Communications Workers of America that's using a Web site to reach out to the tech workforce. "We're not saying, 'sign a card or file a petition,'" says Josh Sperry, labor organizer for CWA Local 9423 in San Jose, Calif. "We're saying, 'Let's bring people together to talk about these issues and figure out what they want.' Maybe it's collective bargaining or maybe it's something else."

When it comes to dealing with problems such as those faced by unemployed IT workers, CGW's Flemister says the best route is to develop a professional organization--and not necessarily one that would lobby Washington for policy changes. "IT and politics just don't mix," he says. Professional groups should work with employers to address issues, he says.

Despite some people's efforts to paint the tech employment picture--in particular, offshore outsourcing--in black and white, the issues are complex and sometimes contradictory. But one thing is clear: The current state of affairs for IT workers should serve as a wake-up call that, as a group, they're not well understood.