Grindr has reportedly refused to listen to workers taking action over its return-to-office policy.
The gay men’s social networking app had allowed its employees to work remotely since the onset of Covid-19 but then told its workforce via a leaked form that they had to either relocate to be within 50 miles (about 80km) of the new offices or lose their jobs.
Now, those who have decided to take action have claimed that bosses “cut the call” when they tried to communicate with them after allegedly being given two weeks to make a decision.
Quinn McGee, a trust and safety product manager and organiser at Grindr United CWA, who tends to work from home in New York City, told Motherboard: “We announced our union on July 20 and then we heard literally nothing from Grindr management until Thursday, when they announced that we all had two weeks to decide whether we were going to move across the country or get fired.
“As soon as George [Arison, Grindr’s CEO] stopped talking, one of my colleagues began to ask a question about all of us suddenly having to uproot our lives – and they cut the call.
“.To tell me that I have two weeks to decide whether or not to uproot my family’s life, for a job that won’t come to the table and speak with me as an adult – it’s dehumanizing.
“They have not told us where the office in the Bay Area is going to be. If this was indeed planned for months as they’re claiming, why isn’t there a lease?
“They’ve sublet a WeWork space that I would wager, given the WeWork space that we have in New York, is not big enough for the entire product design team that they’ve told to move to California. So where do they expect us to be working?!”
Meanwhile, staff software engineer and union organiser Jack Alto explained to the outlet that the union are trying to avoid having the “rug pulled from under them” as they enlist the help of law firm Littler Mendelson.
He said: “Our demands as a union can basically be summarised as, ‘We like our jobs. We like our benefits. We would like to codify these in writing so that the rug doesn’t get pulled out from under us.
“And Grindr management’s response, likely at the urging of Littler Mendelson, has been to pull the rug out from under us faster.”
The charge states: “This requirement to return to in-person work threatens employees with job loss if they either do not work near an in-person office or relocate to an area near the in-person office and constitutes a change in its disciplinary system.”
Earlier this month, Grindr CEO George Arison suddenly told its almost 300-employees that he was “excited” to be welcoming them back into the office.
In a memo, he told staff: “Our leadership team is very excited that we will now be able to spend more time in person with each of you to continue to deliver on all that’s possible for our users, our team, and our shareholders with audacious goals and exceptional execution!”
