For Employers, Sex Might Be Hot, But Never Unions

Workers at Grindr are organizing and of course the bosses might say they are super progressive because of the industry, but when it comes to unions, they might as well be Henry Clay Frick or Henry Ford.

Grindr, the LGBTQ dating company, is using a new return-to-office policy to punish employees who are trying to unionize, workers alleged in a complaint filed with US labor officials.

The company has recently restricted remote work and threatened workers with firing unless they live near or relocate to an in-person office, the Communications Workers of America said in a complaint filed Friday with the National Labor Relations Board.

The CWA said the moves were in response to the union drive that workers announced on July 20. Grindr didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I don’t see any need for a digital product such as ours to require a physical presence especially as we have worked so well remotely over the last three or so years,” said Grindr software engineer Jack Alto, a member of the union’s organizing committee.

Companies and their employees have been tussling over return-to-office policies. 

AT&T Inc. recently told 60,000 managers that they must report to work in person at one of nine locations, which some employees view as a move to reduce staff. Companies in states like New Jersey and Texas could lose tax breaks if workers don’t show up onsite often enough. And Google parent Alphabet Inc. said office attendance will now factor into performance reviews.

The CWA lodged a complaint in January against Alphabet and one of its staffing firms, accusing them of using return-to-office policies as a tool to try to derail a unionization campaign at YouTube Music. That complaint is still pending. The companies have denied wrongdoing.

…

Grindr’s return-to-office policy represents “a coercive and dramatic measure intended to harm our unionization campaign,” Alto said.

Many employees live far from the cities they’re being told to relocate to, and the policy will be particularly burdensome for trans staff who would need to find new health-care providers, Alto said.

Grindr employees have said they’re seeking to gain new benefits, shield existing ones, secure protections against potential layoffs and obtain representation on the company’s board. 

They have asked the company to voluntarily recognize their union, which they say has overwhelming support among a proposed bargaining unit of around 100 employees.

I mean, how can employers subject workers to endless anti-union propaganda if they aren’t on site!