eBay TCGPlayer Union Workers Demonstrate At Workday Rising Vegas Conference, Plan Rally For Living Wages In Syracuse
eBay TCGPlayer workers traveled to Las Vegas last week to demonstrate outside of the Workday Rising Conference, calling on Workday CFO and eBay Board Member Zane Rowe to urge eBay to finally hammer out a collective-bargaining contract with unionized workers at the company.
Members of TCGunion-CWA Local 1123 out of Syracuse, New York, were joined by members of CWA Local 9413, calling on Rowe to "bargain in good faith or resign."
Tyler Wilburn, Inventory Specialist and member of TCGunion-CWA Local 1123, said:
“We are here in Las Vegas to let Zane Rowe know that what happens in Syracuse doesn’t stay in Syracuse. We are here with our union siblings because we want him and the other members of eBay’s Board and leadership to know that CWA is united behind us, and we will continue to fight for the pay, benefits, and protections we deserve.”
Back on their home turf, TCGUnion-CWA is also planning a rally for living wages at eBay TCGPlayer on October 3rd at Columbus Circle in Syracuse, NY where they will launch the Tapped Out at TCGPlayer Report, showing how workers at the company are struggling with stagnant wages.
The workers of Syracuse demand better! eBay-owned TCGplayer is a drain on the Syracuse community, allowing its workers to suffer with stagnant wages!
— TCGunion-CWA (@TCGunionCWA) September 21, 2024
Join us Thursday, October 3rd in Columbus Circle from 12pm-1pm to rally for Living Wages! Friends, family, and allies welcome! pic.twitter.com/hGClIhfA3A
eBay acquired TCGPlayer in October 2022 in a ~$295 Million deal which initially left founding 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
In the year long battle to negotiate a first contract that has ensued, TCGUnion-CWA has filed multiple unfair labor practices charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board, including most recently alleging illegal surveillance & benefits changes and pregnancy discrimination.
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 historic $59 Million settlement with the DEA, an ongoing EPA lawsuit, and 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.
If legacy business, tech and financial media like the New York Times were to regularly cover eBay with the same lens they apply to Amazon and other tech companies, it might help assuage those reasonable reader concerns - and the TCGUnion-CWA Rally in Syracuse on October 3rd would be a great place to start.
