A dramatic shift has taken place in the tech industry over the last several years. Industry leaders who once had a reputation as innovative forward thinkers are more familiar as misanthropic paranoiacs. The playful atmosphere of tech offices flush with investment, enjoying luxe catered lunches to attract programming talent, has been replaced by a looming fear that layoffs are just around the corner as artificial intelligence (AI) company executives make repeated public statements that any day now, everyone will be replaced by superintelligent chatbots. The once-sage advice to “learn to code” isn’t heard much these days.

One could hardly be blamed for feeling pessimistic about the tech industry. But last May, 2,100 information technology employees at the University of California (UC) voted to join the union of University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE-CWA Local 9119). Among the reasons for joining, members have pointed to the layoff protections the union won in its last contract, as well as the positive social vision of technology for which organized workers can fight.

This was the largest effort to organize technology workers in the history of the US labor movement. While the tech industry might still be new ground for unions, the methods it took to win were familiar as ever. Jacobin contributor and tech worker Aaron Petcoff spoke with Local 9119 President Dan Russell and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Unit Cochair Max Belasco about the campaign, what it took to win, and how workers can organize to build technology that serves people rather than the bosses.