#code-for-america — Public Fediverse posts

Like other former #CodeForAmerica brigades, our old #Meetup group recently lost its CfA sponsorship and got taken over by someone outside the community.

Over the last 10 years, too many people to count have stumbled upon our group through Meetup, come through that door at The Tech or ActionSpot expecting a conventional Silicon Valley coding club, and left with a newfound appreciation for their potential to improve lives through civic tech. We hope you’ll keep coming for more! ❤️

Going forward, you can find out about upcoming OSSJ events through this Mastodon account, Eventbrite, and our Discord server (see profile description).

For the local OpenStreetMap community, #SouthBayMapNight is also cross-posted to the official OpenStreetMap Calendar at https://osmcal.org/ and a different Meetup group at https://www.meetup.com/bay-area-openstreetmappers/

I saw this blog post mentioned the other day, I don't recall where. The absolute monstrosity that Alex here talked about is an appalling state for web dev to be in, and speaks to what happens when we build systems without carefully considering the cost of our abstractions.

https://infrequently.org/2024/08/object-lesson/ #CodeForAmerica #WebDev

I'm going to be attending the #CodeForAmerica Summit #HallwayTrack tomorrow! If you're going to be there and want to meet up, try out this new feature to self-invite and I'll figure out how we can do that!
https://calendar.app.google/WLWycXZNsPL1Vj2K7

heh #codeforamerica #govtech #civictech

I am now landing at OAK ~ 0750 2024-05-30 and shooting into the sky ~2105 #codeforamerica #govtech #civictech

I may be skulking at the Code for America Summit without a ticket in the lower-case hallway track on Thursday 30 May. Who else is going?

#codeforamerica #govtech #civictech

We're excited to announce that we've reached an agreement with #CodeForAmerica on a severance package for all members who were laid off 2 weeks ago, including whose unit membership was in dispute!

https://statescoop.com/code-for-america-union-severance-layoffs/

This package more closely aligns with the TAs we had previously negotiated with management for layoffs and severance. This is a tremendous win for us and we couldn't have done it without our collective power and your support. ✊

#UnionStrong #Layoffs #HotLaborSummer

This is tomorrow! It'll be a fast meeting 🚧 https://union.place/@cfaworkers/111032166781481779 #union #LaborDayWeekend #CodeForAmerica

🌎 The workers of #CodeForAmerica want to hear from YOU! 👂

Join us on Tuesday, September 12th at 4pm PT // 7pm ET for a Town Hall. Come hear about the impact of recent layoffs at #CodeForAmerica, our commitment to getting immediate relief for our colleagues, and the tactics we’ve used to leverage our power and resources at this moment.

RSVP here: https://bit.ly/cfawu-town-hall

In case you missed it, just before the labor day weekend, #CodeForAmerica leadership laid off 35 of our colleagues. Many of whom were active members of our unit. Thanks to the amazing show of solidarity from our comrades across industries, we've raised over $20,000 for impacted workers! But we're not done yet.

Today, we begin negotiations with management over these layoffs. A process that should have happened before they were executed.

#UnionStrong #HotLaborSummer #Layoffs

Yesterday was #LaborDay in the #USA

#Grindr is enforcing a “return to office policy”

#CodeForAmerica announced just before #LaborDay that they're immediately laying off 35 employees

We *all* deserve a #union to stand up for our rights

https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/labor/

@beep has written a book https://abookapart.com/products/you-deserve-a-tech-union

#union #unions

One of our laid off #union members created this #comic, reporting their experience yesterday. It is a bittersweet but amazing wrap up of what many have experienced.

#1u #layoff #layoffs #LaborDay #labor #CodeForAmerica

Yesterday, 15% of #CodeForAmerica - 35 staff members - were laid off. We have created a mutual aid fund for everyone who lost jobs.

Our colleagues all worked to strengthen the US safety net. Please donate/amplify & help us build a safety net for them.

https://account.venmo.com/u/CfAWorkersSolidarity

#Layoffs #Solidarity

I created the #CodeForAmerica Brigade in #Austin. As I reconnect to the #civicTech community, it greatly saddens me to see what has become of CfA.

It's not completely unexpected: ten years ago civic tech was groundbreaking and fundable. That all disappeared along with the Obama presidency.

Still, it's sad to see CfA transition from a community-focused organization to a union busting consultancy.

https://codeforamerica.org/news/moment-of-change-on-our-journey/

@jalcine Accurate? "Consistent with our values, Code for America will treat those impacted by this change with dignity and respect. Although we have yet to finalize our first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement, the tentative agreement on layoffs and severance helped us develop an equitable process and a meaningful severance package, including extending health care benefits." #CfA #CodeForAmerica

I'm back from vacation and excited to get back to bargaining. While I was out, through the actions of our unit, we were finally able to get management to engage in real dialogue at the table. To talk with us, rather than at us. This is incredibly encouraging and I look forward to continuing with that today as we discuss management's counters to our latest proposal.

#CodeForAmerica #CfAWU #HotLaborSummer #UnionStong

I'm currently on vacation, trying to take some time to rest, recharge, and enjoy time with friends. I appreciate the ability to take this time away as I need it. However, it's a little hard to do that when the rights of me and my colleagues are under assault.

I attended bargaining yesterday as a show of solidarity and it is was a rough start, but through the actions of so many of our courageous members, we got management to sit down, answer questions, and have an actual conversation. This is what should have been happening this entire time and it's encouraging to see this shift.

I sincerely hope we're able to keep these conversations going so that we can reach a fair and equitable contract that positions #CodeForAmerica as leaders.

#CfAWU #LaborOrganizing #HotLaborSummer

Management at #CodeForAmerica thinks their workers are bullies for calling them out on their constant union busting and failure to listen to workers. #UnionBusting and stripping workers of their rights is apparently not bullying in the eyes of management

If managment can't lead this organization with integrity and our values and mission at the forefront, I suggest they make room for people who can.

#laborOrganizing #HotLaborSummer #CfAWU

Have you ever wondered what union busting looks like in the non-profit, mission-driven space? Turns out, it's not much different than in for-profit organizations! While organizing, we encounter the same forms of greed and power hoarding that we see at companies like Amazon and Starbucks.

When mission-driven organizations unionize it becomes immediatly clear that the values espoused by the leaders of these organizations apply to only those they intend to serve, not those doing the actual work. Help us hold management at Code for America accountable to their values by sharing this post and contacting them using the link at the bottom.

Together we can create a fair and equitable work environment for all. ✊
https://cfaworkersunited.com/stories/2023/07/17/people-centered-union-busting.html

#UnionBusting #LaborOrganizing #HotLaborSummer #CodeForAmerica #CfAWU

@kissane @cfaworkers

Thanks for sharing this.

Here's the text + link to send a comment to #CodeForAmerica ...

"Want to help us get our first union contract? Tell Code for America to act with integrity and bargain in good faith (https://codeforamerica.org/contact-us/), then share this post [in] any [...] spaces where you connect with the civic tech and labor organizing communities! For press inquiries, please email us at: [email protected]"

🖖 !

Discord: https://discord.gg/3bAd9DAWCp
Slack: codeforsanjose.slack.com
Website: https://codeforsanjose.org
#opensourcesanjose #civictech #codeforsanjose #codeforamerica #cfa #sanjose

Alright folks big corporate message done… domain name changes and account ownership can be challenging, but for volunteers working on specific projects, your individual workflows shouldn’t be impacted beyond deployment, and that is mainly where the domain name changes come in. As always, thanks for bearing with us on this, the projects are our bread and butter and fingers are crossed that we’ll take them all live very soon! 4/4

Today is day 10(!!) of the #NLRB hearings. We've repeatedly heard testimony that important people can't be in the #union, and people in the union can't be trusted. Management has admitted to surveiling unit members on social media and even tried to weaponize the board to silence us, claiming that repeating back testimony from these public hearings is "disparaging!"

You know what's disparaging? Constantly hearing that you aren't important and can't be trusted just because you want to protect your rights. Watching management strip members of their rights before terminating them without representation. Seeing management engage in the same #UnionBusting tactics we see at Amazon, New York Times, and Starbucks. Having management then deny and deflect, ignoring those impacted by their actions. That's disparaging.

If you have time today, I'd really appreciate your support. Come watch as we continue to fight for the #CodeForAmerica that we believe in! https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1602016186?pwd=RTQrYVh4Mll5NE5Tbjl5WTV5M0FKZz09

#CfAWU #HotLaborSummer #LaborOrganizing

You know we love a good civic tech postmortem. Embrace the learning opportunities that come with mistakes at the #FailFest happening today as part of the #CFASummit2023 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/failfest-at-code-for-america-cfa-summit-2023-tickets-624839911997 #CodeForAmerica #LearningFromFailure

Interesting that #codeforamerica
is closing the support for the brigades (the #volunteering local groups).

As they defined the bold vision for the future, the grass-root movement is getting hard to support.

The #centralization vs. #decentralization clash? Your thoughts?

https://codeforamerica.org/news/reflections-on-the-brigade-networks-next-chapter/

#civictech

@Dhmspector I wonder if anyone from #CodeForAmerica or other civic tech groups has any insight into what is going on with #SFMTA realtime bus info. Seems like for a decade+ they are always selecting a new vendor and saying how great it will be but in reality they are barely able to keep up with things like changing cell phone standards for the bus stop displays. Is this just not enough funding or are there other causes?

How Tech is Helping Poor People Get Government Aid - Even as the government expanded aid programs, many people faced barriers to using them. T... - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/us/politics/safety-net-apps-tech.html #unitedstatespoliticsandgovernment #mobilecommerceandpayments #coronavirus(2019-ncov) #unitedstateseconomy #mobileapplications #stimulus(economic) #codeforamerica #welfare(us) #foodstamps #states(us) #propelinc #chenjimmy #poverty #civilla