Remember Remember 27th of September: Labor protest date on IBM's Second Life campus set

Update, 9/27: On-the-scene report of strike here.

According to organizers, the international union strike on behalf of IBM workers on the company's continent-sized virtual campus first reported here is set for the 27th.  Details are here at the Uni Global Union site; helpfully, the union offers suggestions for IBM employees who want to join the march, interpreting Big Blue's Second Life employee guidelines to advise: "You can join the SL protest during normal working hours ONLY if your national union declares an official union initiative (it's also regulated by national law, please check it.) If this isn’t the case, please join the demonstration after working hours." 

But will that be enough to cover IBM staffers who join the protest off the clock?  I'm not so sure, for the corporation's metaverse guidelines (read them here) also state this: "[W]hat you do in your own time is generally your own affair. However, you do need to consider whether your digital persona could be linked to IBM in activities in which you participate on your own time.  Any conduct that adversely affects your performance as an IBM employee, that of other employees or IBM's legitimate business interests may result in disciplinary measures, including dismissal."

So what actually transpires, of course, is anyone's guess.

Comments

[Jaymin Carthage]

IBM is pretty reasonable about these things. I know that's not as sensational a story, but I rather doubt anyone is going to be fired for participating. That's not how the business conduct guidelines, virtual or otherwise, have ever been applied.