Dozens of union workers from TCG Player and their supporters rallied in downtown Syracuse Thursday to pressure corporate owner eBay to bargain in good faith as contract negotiations drag on. Columbus Circle filled with people wearing red shirts in solidarity with the TCG workers. It’s been more than a year since the company was forced to recognize the workers after they joined the Communications Workers of America.
The online collectible trading marketplace makes billions of dollars in profits every year, but Mark Spadafore with SEIU 1199 told the crowd the workers want their fair share.
“We are all behind you, so you get your contract, you get justice, you get the wages you need, you get the benefits that you need, and most importantly, above all else, you get the respect, the respect inside that workplace," Spadafore said. "People might not realize this, but if you stopped working, rich people stop making money.”
Julia Giacona has worked at TCG player for a year and a half. She was drawn to what she calls the “geek culture” as well as the fight for a contract.
“We're doing a lot of internal pressure with wearing our red on Thursday as our simplest, most impactful action," Giacona said. "Correcting management when they lie to our whole staff. These little pressure points are really starting to break through. We're going to do more rallies and do more picketing, especially coming into our biggest retail season of the year.”
Giacona says workers are only becoming more motivated as TCG management and eBay have shown signs of cracking.
Tyler Wilburn has worked as an inventory specialist for four years. He says the company is dragging its feet on issues like sick time, vacation, and leave pay.
“The company just straight up refuses to bargain over non economics," Wilburn said. "Our bargaining team put forward a pay raise memorandum of understanding back in January that they didn't even want to consider because we hadn't finished with non economics.”
The aim is to have a contract by November, but Wilburn says he has not heard of a comprehensive agreement yet.
