TCG morning crew 11/29/2023

On 11/29/2023, TCG Union held an informational picketing rally in front of TCG HQ on Warren St. in Syracuse from 7-9, and again from 12-1. Members from TCG, several local labor leaders and local community leaders, all showed up to lend their support on a chilly day. A big thank you to all those who attended.

The workers put this photo and statement up on the company slack and their union Discord this morning: 

Today, we are exercising our rights by standing in solidarity and making our voices heard to demand that eBay commits to good faith efforts in our ongoing negotiations. In almost 9 months since our election, we’ve made very little progress towards a contract. Since our Union went public, we have faced brutal union-busting, stall tactics, and unnecessary delays. Unfortunately, this has continued at the bargaining table. We have so far reached tentative agreements on only 4 customary, boilerplate proposals, none of which address any key issues of concern for our coworkers. Additionally, TCGplayer’s bargaining team has failed to respond to 14 proposals and counters, several of which have been pending for nearly 3 months, putting bargaining at a standstill.

Our team has put forth hard work and good faith efforts to get to a contract in a reasonable amount of time. We cannot move forward into many of the key issues, such as pay, benefits, and sick time, until we get agreements on these outstanding proposals. eBay tried to scare us during our election campaign by telling us it would take up to two years to negotiate a contract—their actions are aimed to ensure that happens.

Back in September, we asked Rob Bigler why eBay revised their Human Rights Policy to remove support of their workers’ rights to organize and their commitment to bargain in good faith with any relevant labor unions. The removal of this statement was concerning in itself, but their actions have proven that they are not committed to live up to their legal obligation to bargain in good faith.

When will eBay reinstate their commitment to bargain in good faith to their Human Rights policy? When will they respond to our plethora of unanswered proposals? When will they stop focusing on preserving their unilateral power? When will they stop trying to get us to sign away our protected rights? When will they agree to preserve the fabric of our culture in a binding contract? When will they commit to being more transparent in their actions and efforts? We are standing out here to demand answers, action, and accountability.

We cannot wait through more unnecessary delays to get to a contract. eBay needs to not only reinstate their full human rights policy, but demonstrate their commitment to it. We are living up to our principles; when is the company going to live up to theirs?