Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech) records, 1982-2015

This collection contains records from the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech), a union of high-tech workers affiliated with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 37083, spanning the years approximately 1996 to 2014. Most of the material relates to WashTech’s campaign to organize temporary workers and independent contractors at Microsoft, but there is also material related to WashTech’s founding in 1998 and organizing campaigns at Amazon, AT&T, Metro One, Blue Shield, and other companies. These records feature meeting minutes and agendas, handwritten notes, worker surveys, strategic planning documents, handbooks, union contracts, event flyers and handouts, court documents, research reports, legislative documents and testimonies, budgets, manuals, legal and licensing forms, union election materials, resumes and job descriptions, union bylaws, company documents, and more. There is also an extensive collection of newspaper and magazine articles related to Microsoft, offshoring and outsourcing, temporary employment, and union organizing in the technology sector. Additionally, this collection contains extensive records of email communications and correspondences between WashTech and CWA leadership and workers about organizing workplaces and the inner workings of the union. This collection would be of particular interest to researchers trying to understand the challenges and strategies involved in organizing high-technology workers and fighting exploitative workplace practices.