Proton needs employee representatives
Tuta has a works council in Hanover. Proton sites needs to have employee representations too. That helps to manage conflicts between the Proton management and the employees. If sufficiently countervailing power is given to employee representatives, the members of Proton's top management can focus on their strengths (without them Proton wouldn't exist) and even might not have to change their attitudes too much.
Remark: It is the task of employees to found works councils. Unions and works councils are different things. Unionizing is not required to found works councils, but it can help.
Rapunzel
shared this idea
-
Rapunzel
commented
To big tech CEOs it might sound like a crazy idea, but how about Andy Yen (together with Proton's HR) contacts https://syndicom.ch/en/ to discuss how to create an employee representation as a reasonably strong countervailing power within Proton?
That would be much better than replacing the CEO. It even might motivate more people (especially those who don't like to rely on arrogant big tech workspace providers) to become customers of Proton.
-
Rapunzel
commented
In the league in which Proton is playing, Proton even might need unhinged people like Andy Yen at the helm. Firing the Proton C-suite won't clean up the mess caused by them, if the Proton employees are too weak to take the action which they can take by law: They can found works councils.
E.g. in Switzerland the employees have the right to found a "PeKo" (Personalkommission) or "CoPe" (Commission du personnel), which is what a works council is called there. While a Peko/CoPe doesn't have the clout of works councils in Germany, it's better than having no employee representatives at all. (I don't know whether the German Proton site is big enough to found a "Betriebsrat" for themselves supported by German law.)
In https://molecule.build/ is a list (made by some smart Proton employees) of unions that can help you to found a works council for your Proton site together with your colleagues.
Don't the employees at Proton realize that they are in a strong position? Don't they see how the recent blunder of the C-suit has opened wide a window for Proton employees to implement works councils? The Proton employees have an unusually strong support from Proton's customer base. What are they afraid of? I don't think that the Proton management would want to intimidate or fire proton employees (unless they want 404media to report about the next scandal) who found a works council at their Proton site.
To Proton users: Don't blame Andy Yen and his colleagues for not treating their employees with respect, if the same Proton employees don't use their rights and opportunities.