Collective Representation Among High‐Tech Workers at Microsoft and Beyond: Lessons from WashTech/CWA

The obstacles that discourage organizing among high‐tech workers are well documented in the industrial relations literature. Discussion about factors that help workers overcome these obstacles, however, is sparse. This case study uses interviews and other evidence to analyze how high‐tech workers formed the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech/CWA). I find that WashTech/CWA improved constituents’ working conditions through attempts to engage in collective bargaining, mutual benefit activities, and political action. WashTech/CWA is having greater success using mutual benefits, such as information and training services, and political action in part as a result of the obstacles workers encountered when trying to access collective bargaining.