December 6, 2018



To the management at Filter Digital:



We are the Research Assistants and Program Coordinator working for Filter Digital on-site at Facebook Reality Labs (formerly Oculus Research) in the Seattle-Redmond area. Inspired by Filter’s own company values, we have decided to be courageous and take change into our own hands by standing together in proposing changes to improve our working conditions.



We take pride in the vital contributions we make to the cutting-edge AR/VR research taking place at Facebook Reality Labs. However, we are also struggling to make ends meet without equitable pay and benefits. Many of us work second jobs, have subpar living arrangements, and/or cannot afford necessary medical care for ourselves and our families. We barely make enough to cover our necessary living expenses, let alone contribute to any savings. Many are simply one emergency away from possible homelessness. ...



Twenty workers subcontracted with Facebook through a UX contracting firm, Filter, submitted this letter on December 6, in an effort to exercise their legal right to negotiate for better wages and conditions at work. (Read the full letter here.)



Filter management responded with coercive 1-on-1s with the research assistants, and then on Wednesday of this week emailed an ultimatum to the workers that they could take Filter's proposed contract as is—or not have a job in 2019.



The letter writers, as well as full time workers who supported their campaign, felt some fear in the face of this retaliation, particularly when their jobs were directly threatened. Still, their confidence was unwavering—their campaign for a better life at work was protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Whether management knew their rights under the law or not, they were desperate for change.



As of today, after full-time employees and the public learned more of the contingent workers' story and rallied around their campaign, Filter Digital backed down from their threat that the research assistants would lose their job in 2019 (in an impressive display of gaslighting, claiming the Friday deadline to sign Filter's proposed contract was "not an ultimatum"), but they haven't agreed to the changes that workers asked for in the first place. The research assistants are asking for basic dignity that all workers deserve like a living wage, paid vacation time, and sick time. For Facebook, a company that made $5 billion in profits last quarter, nobody in their workplace should be on the brink of homelessness or working more than 1 job to make ends meet, regardless of employment status.



The Facebook Reality Labs research assistants' story is the latest in an ongoing pattern of dividing the workplace into full time employees (FTEs) and temporary or contract workers, with most abuses falling on the latter. Companies rely on workers not talking enough to realize what's going on, but that is changing every day. FTEs have been fighting back in solidarity. They are increasingly building relationships and sharing stories of the working conditions of all their coworkers, and they aren't remaining silent when they see something wrong.



These contract workers, like those working throughout the industry, are at the forefront of many labor struggles throughout the industry. Their courage inspires us all to stand behind them. If Filter or Facebook think they can get away with retaliation, let's prove them wrong. In a post to Facebook FTEs, the research assistants wrote, "Please don't forget about us over the holiday break, keep sharing with each other what's going on with our jobs, ask questions, and help us safely continue our work into next year." That's something all of us in tech can do, to ensure contract workers can't be abused by their employers and the tech companies that contract to them.