California Groundbreakers

With recent headlines about scandals and snafus at Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook, tech workers in Silicon Valley are fed up with doing business as usual, and they’re fighting back. Software coders and engineers who earn six-figure salaries are joining forces with the lower-paid workers who make their tech campuses run and embracing the idea of labor unions. in this episode, we’re talking with two people who believe in the power of collective action to make Silicon Valley a more equitable place. GUESTS * Maria Noel Fernandez, director of Silicon Valley Rising (https://siliconvalleyrising.org) * Christopher Schmidt, software engineer at Google and a founding member of the Alphabet Workers Union (https://alphabetworkersunion.org) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to 5:10 min - Intro to "This Changes Everything," this specific episode, and our guests * 5:10 min - Fernandez and Schmidt describe their organizations, the missions, and what they're focusing on now * 14:20 min - Are tech companies responsiv