Austin Facebook Contract Worker Fired For Musical Complaints

AUSTIN, TX — The job of a Facebook content moderator, tasked with reviewing, monitoring and deleting violent and otherwise explicit content, is not easy. But one Austin worker's complaint about working conditions amid heightened workplace demands — illustrated with protest songs from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Clash and others — fell flat with his employer who summarily fired him as a result, according to a published report.

People working as content moderators for the social media giant have long demanded better treatment and better pay amid increasingly stressful work environments, the Washington Post reported. Reports of alleged mismanagement by contractors — including Accenture,for whom the fired employee worked — have been widely reported by the Post and other news sites, including the Verge.

Increasingly gentrified Austin, where the cost of living continually escalates, has become something of a ground zero in the employment skirmish. As the Post reported, a group of Austin workers on Thursday published a letter — the fourth such missive in the recent past — asking for a base pay raise to $19.50 an hour to make ends meet in the capital city. Workers also have addressed the emotional toll experienced given the nature of their jobs.

Facebook has implemented some measure of change in addressing concerns, including upping pay for Bay Area contractors to $20 an hour, $18 for all other U.S. contractors, as the company chief operating officer announced in Workplace this past May.

But no workplace-improving measures saved the Austin worker, who chose to remain anonymous. He was fired two days after posting his musically complemented complaints, drawing from Gill Scott Heron ("The Revolution Will Not Be Televised") and The Clash ("Know Your Rights") and Bruce Springsteen ("Factory"). Before being let go, he complained, among other things, about constant auditing of workers' movements that included trips to the bathroom, the newspaper reported.

The Springsteen song "Factory," utilized for effect contains the lyrics: “End of the day, factory whistle cries; men walk through these gates with death in their eyes; and you just better believe, boy somebody’s gonna get hurt tonight."

The worker was suspended on a sick day by Accenture subsidiary BCForward two days later after posting that selection from The Boss, according to the report.

An Austin worker's musical expression in complaining of workplace conditions at a Facebook contractor site fell flat with his employers, who fired him shortly after the posting.

>>> Read the full story at the Washington Post