eBay TCGPlayer Union Workers Rally For Better Wages & A Fair Contract
Unionized workers at eBay subsidiary TCGPlayer held a rally in Syracuse, NY today, calling on the company to raise wages and negotiate a fair first contract.
The event was part of a broader effort to bring attention to the year long battle TCGUnion-CWA has fought to bring eBay to the bargaining table, along with multiple National Labor Relations Board complaints that have been filed alleging unfair labor practices, illegal surveillance & benefits changes and pregnancy discrimination.
Today's rally coincides with the release of CWA's "Tapped Out At TCGPlayer" report, revealing details gleaned from a survey of 54 TCGplayer Authentication Center workers about wages and cost of living between August 12 and September 1, 2024 as well as an analysis of wage data from the company.
The report found:
- Wages for all the non-management workers at the Authentication Center are low, with a median wage of $18.25 per hour.
- The majority (87%) of Authentication Center workers earn less than a living wage in Syracuse, N.Y., for a single person without children (which according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator should be $20.99 per hour).
- A majority of survey respondents feel financially insecure. 78% of respondents feel worried they will not be able to meet all of their financial obligations, and another 13% are “sometimes” worried.
- The majority of survey respondents report delaying necessary medical care (57%) and buying groceries (56%) among their struggles with their low wages at TCGplayer.
- 50% of respondents with children said they struggled to afford childcare.
The report specifically called out the massive discrepancy in pay between average workers and eBay CEO Jamie Iannone (who received a total compensation of ~$21.6 Million in 2023) - which is 135 times the median salary of the average tech worker at eBay and 568 times what authentication specialists at TCGPlayer earn.
The inequities within eBay are staggering. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone made $21.6 million in total compensation in 2023 alone.
His compensation is 135 times the median salary of an eBay employee of $160,007 —reflecting eBay’s workforce of mostly tech workers in Silicon Valley.
When compared to the median salary at the Syracuse Authentication Center, Iannone makes 568 times the median worker.
That's a particularly bad look when 57% of respondents to the CWA survey said they rely on friends and family to supplement their incomes, with 9% saying they needed public heating (LIHEAP) and food assistance (SNAP) for basic necessities.
eBay is one of the largest employers in Syracuse. Low wages are a drain on the people who make our economy work. We demand that eBay pay us a living wage and treat us with dignity! Not just for us, but for the Syracuse community as a whole! #WhenWeFightWeWin #1u (5/5) pic.twitter.com/6YPD0x2bw9
— TCGunion-CWA (@TCGunionCWA) October 3, 2024
eBay acquired TCGPlayer in October 2022 in a ~$295 Million deal which initially left founder CEO Chedy Hampson and other key management in place, despite a history of strained labor relations which led to a previous unsuccessful union drive in March 2020 that received national media attention and public support from Senator Bernie Sanders.
Those previous unionization efforts and ongoing labor issues raised questions about due diligence and disclosure in the TCGPlayer acquisition and what the implications could be for eBay's other labor centric operations, leading both Hampson and eBay Chief Accounting Officer Brian Doerger to step down from their positions.
Liz Morton
Continued violations of labor laws and engaging in anti-competitive business practices could lead to increased regulatory scrutiny and legal action which the company can ill afford on top of a deferred prosecution agreement after being criminally charged in connection to the 2019 cyberstalking of journalists Ina and David Steiner of EcommerceBytes that includes enhanced compliance monitoring with a specific focus on Mergers and Acquisitions.
Liz Morton
eBay is also currently conducting an "investor recommended" Values Assessment, promising to "[take] a close look at our workplace practices, policies, culture, and [hear] directly from our employees and external stakeholders" to determine if the company is living up to their Human Rights Policy Statement, including the United Nations Principles on Business and Human Rights and the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Liz Morton
Meanwhile, the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition, representing a group of TCGPlayer sellers, is urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate eBay's acquisition of the company, alleging antitrust violations, retaliation, and more - saying the company's aggressive moves to consolidate their position in the collectible trading industry have resulted in a substantial loss of competition.
Liz Morton
Unfortunately, recent reporting by Luke Rosiak at the Daily Wire raises troubling questions about whether Chairwoman Lina Khan and others occupying top spots at the FTC can be trusted to be objective and unbiased when reviewing consumer complaints and petitions or comments regarding eBay's business practices, due to ties with eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
Omidyar stepped down from active membership on eBay's Board of Directors in September 2020 after the cyberstalking scandal became public, but he is still a major shareholder and retains the honorary title of Director Emeritus.
That honorary title may not come with voting rights, but that doesn't necessarily mean Omidyar no longer has any influence at the company.
Notably, Shripriya Mahesh was appointed to eBay's BOD in 2023 after previously rising to VP Product Management and Product Strategy in 2006, then joining Omidyar's First Look Media as Head Of Product in 2013 and later becoming Partner Emerging Tech at Pierre's "social change venture", Omidyar Network.
While serving on the eBay Board of Directors, Mahesh has actively maintained her position as Founding Partner of Spero Ventures - a for-profit venture fund spunout from Omidyar Network in 2018 with Pierre Omidyar as its sole limited partner at the time.
Omidyar Network has strategically funded freelance journalists through their their Reporters in Residence program, supporting coverage of big-picture economic issues like "Reimagining Capitalism" and "The Future of Workers and Work."
Over the last few years, this Reporters in Residence program has awarded several grants to labor journalists like Kim Kelly, Hamilton Nolan, s.e. smith, and Brian Merchant - all of whom appear to have been curiously quiet about the first union in eBay's ~30 year history and the year long battle TCGUnion-CWA has fought trying to bargain their first contract.
The scant mainstream media coverage this historic organizing effort has received compared to similar campaigns at Amazon likely won't come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to eBay leadership's hostile attitudes toward free speech and independent journalism revealed in the cyberstalking case or more current initiatives aimed at leveraging media connections to manipulate and influence public perception and discussion about the company.
In addition to the conflict of interest and regulatory capture concerns that should be raised by Omidyar's relationship with the FTC, it's become increasingly clear that eBay is also engaging in strategic media capture with it's exclusive deal with New York Times owned The Athletic to provide sports trading card and memorabilia content in exchange for paid product placement.
Liz Morton
The Athletic readers were skeptical about the deal, questioning how it might impact editorial standards and journalistic ethics at the publication and whether any New York Times owned property can be trusted to objectively cover future stories related to eBay in light of the financial tie up now in place between the two companies.
Entertainment and gaming industry media have covered TCGUnion-CWA's successful organizing campaign and ongoing bargaining efforts, but the larger business, tech and financial press have been curiously silent on the subject.
Nicole Carpenter
If legacy media like the New York Times were to regularly cover eBay with the same lens they apply to Amazon and other large tech companies, it might help assuage reader concerns and bolster credibility in claims they "maintain full editorial independence in all [their] coverage."
An in depth investigative report on eBay's acquisition of TCGPlayer, due diligence and disclosure failures and TCGUnion-CWA's historic union win and contract negotiations would be a great place to start.
