Tech Labor Rights for Human Rights

Abstract

As technology becomes increasingly central to state violence and human rights violations, tech workers find themselves in a distinctive position: their specialized labor creates and maintains systems that can enable grave harms, yet their protections to collectively organize against such uses remains legally uncertain. This Paper examines one means of resistance against harms caused by tech companies: tech workers organizing around human rights in the United States. Drawing on historical examples from IBM workers during the Holocaust to current protests of Project Nimbus, it argues that tech workers' unique relationship to their work product creates both special obligations and vulnerabilities that challenge traditional labor law frameworks. While current interpretations of labor rights artificially separate workplace conditions from "political" concerns, tech workers cannot easily distinguish between their working conditions and the broader implications of their work. The Paper analyzes existing legal protections under the National Labor Relations Act and whistleblower laws, providing strategies for tech workers to maximize their protection while organizing against human rights violations. It concludes by proposing specific reforms to expand legal frameworks, arguing that protecting tech workers' ability to collectively challenge harmful uses of their labor represents not just a labor rights issue but an important frontier for human rights advocacy.