Employees at TCGplayer, an online marketplace subsidiary of eBay, have recently been rallying in favor of unionizing. This comes days before their on site vote takes place, which could potentially determine if the workplace will be the latest to unionize across the country.
Over 100 TCGplayer employees gathered in downtown Syracuse, New York to voice their support for unionizing. The labor campaign is largely being led by Pinkerton, a software engineer at TCGplayer, who has become a spokesperson for the organization. While organizing the rally, Pinkerton has noted that this isn’t just a fight for better pay and better benefits, but more importantly it’s a fight to be heard.
With this in mind, the rally served to bring attention to the issues the employees at TCGplayer are facing and to send a strong message to the company’s executives about their commitment to the cause. According to Pinkerton, the right to unionize should be protected and he claims that the majority of the workers at TCGplayer are in favor of unionizing.
During the rally, several topics were discussed, including wage and benefit discrepancies, long working hours, and lack of advancement opportunities. One touchy subject that was brought up was the devastating effects of the pandemic. According to Pinkerton, when eBay first acquired TCGplayer, many of the employees were promised financial security and job security, but those commitments have been forgotten and they’ve been working under incredibly difficult conditions to keep the company running.
The company’s executives have yet to make a statement regarding the unionization campaign, but Pinkerton is optimistic that the vote this week will be in favor of the unionization process. He hopes that the hard work of TCGplayer employees will finally be recognized and accounted for in the form of better wages, benefits and work hours.
Regardless of the outcome of the vote, the labor movement at TCGplayer has gained momentum, and this rally has demonstrated just how united their employees truly are. It remains to be seen if the company will accept the outcome of the upcoming vote in favor of unionization, but either way, the workers of TCGplayer have proven that they are a force to be reckoned with.