Circuit Breakers is a gathering for all workers, organizers, and activists in the tech industry to come together and learn, build community, strategize, and recognize our collective power.
New York City | October 17-18, 2026
We consider all workers in the tech sector—from software engineers, to salespeople, to ride-share drivers—as tech workers. This conference is organized by volunteers from across the tech labor movement.
Values
The rank and file workers who organized this gathering aim to create a space where all workers across the tech industry—from office workers, to warehouse workers; from full time workers to contractors—can stand united in these values.
Worker-Led (click to expand)
Workers know how to win. When we put our heads together, no one has a better understanding of how our companies function, including our bosses. We’re the ones who drive these machines, we’re the ones who write the code, and we’re the ones who know every inch of the shop floor. If we want to build leverage that brings management to the bargaining table, our strategy must draw from the wisdom of the rank and file, from us, the workers. This movement must be worker-led to meet the challenges ahead.Courageous (click to expand)
If we want to use our labor power to raise up our communities, workers must be brave. We must reach out to one another to have important and difficult conversations that will move us to action. We must practice working together to challenge the status quo and build resilience that can foster bravery. Workers must realise we have the collective power to change the conditions that shape our lives and win demands that will free us. No one is coming to save us but ourselves.Radical Care (click to expand)
Radical care is necessary for building solidarity that can overcome the arbitrary divisions that undermine our collective power. To forge a strong global movement that reaches across roles, sectors, and borders, we must create transformative spaces of belonging and distributed power. This is how we build a community that is inclusive, compassionate, and places our humanity above the pressures of capital.Program
Circuit Breakers centers rank and file organizing.
The conference will feature workers from across the tech labor movement sharing stories, giving skills trainings, and participating in important debates.
We have a great selection of talks from our submissions, and a full program will be produced soon. Keynote speakers will include representatives from government scientists at NIOSH who fought to preserve their lifesaving research on worker safety, Rockstar workers on beating back union busting in the games industry, and Kickstarter United discussing their strike!
Here’s a few of the great sessions to expect over the conference weekend
:- Spreadsheets for Organizers
Do you understand the importance of data in organizing, but you shudder at the invocation of pivot tables? Do you need some structure for your structure tests? In this workshop, you’ll learn spreadsheet basics, and talk through the wider context of data-driven organizing from both a comradely perspective and the perspective of the boss! - What is the Power of Withheld Labor in the Tech Workplace?
What does an effective strike look like in tech where, when workers walk out, the code keeps running? Examining the first two official tech sector strikes (NYTTG and Kickstarter United), this workshop with Kickstarter United strike captains will focus on discovering and developing the power of withheld labor in the tech workplace. - All Roads Lead Back to Tech: Wielding Memes and Culture Slop in the Workplace
Starting an organizing conversation is something that they say gets easier with practice, but who are they? Can they be trusted? What if you could use a meme to break the ice, or gauge a co-worker’s interest? This talk will help place tech’s meme culture in an organizing milieu and teach you to bend gifs and jpegs to your organizing will. - Direct Join Unionism: Worker-to-Worker Organizing at Scale
The path of winning an NLRB election can be a powerful tool but is not the only way to build worker power and win material change, especially at multinational tech corporations with huge global workforce and varying types of employment. This session with organizers from Alphabet Workers Union is a celebration of militant solidarity that teaches workers how to start having conversations about this model with coworkers. - Getting To Yes -- Strategies to Make a Meeting with Your Coworkers
Bosses know that an isolated workforce is a vulnerable workforce, and this anti-worker philosophy has informed the structure of many a tech company. Organizing when you can chat folks up at the water cooler is tricky enough, but add the distance of the computer screen and a large portion of the battle can just be “getting to talk to your co-worker at all.” Join UPTE organizers as they walk through various strategies to getting time on your co-worker’s calendar minus the fear. - Bloom: A D&D Live Play About Labor Organizing by Firebrands Games
We’re hoping to showcase the potential of roleplaying games in training new organizers. Our campaign module is based off the Smithfield Campaign chapter of No Shortcuts. We’ll invite up to 5 player characters to play with a live audience watching. Players will have to resist the urge to be “heroes” and instead find ways to empower the workers.
FAQ
Where and when is the conference? (click to expand)
Circuit Breakers 2026 will be hosted in New York City. It will be a 2-day event over the weekend of October 17-18. Doors will open at 9:30 am on the 17th, and the conference will end at approximately 6:00 pm on the 18th. The exact location will be provided to attendees upon registration, but expect it to be near Washington Square Park. For further questions, please reach out to conf (at) techworkerscoalition.orgCan I attend this conference remotely? (click to expand)
This conference will be in-person only, both for logistical reasons and to respect the privacy of our attendees and their organizing. We do anticipate holding future virtual events and panels drawing on the topics and speakers of the most attended and best-received workshops.Who is this conference for? (click to expand)
This is a conference for rank-and-file workers in tech who have direct experience organizing, who want to get more involved in organizing, or even have no experience as an organizer. This gathering is not for general observers like journalists or researchers. If you fall into one of these categories, you might be eligible if you have significant ties to tech organizing or the labor movement and consider yourself, broadly speaking, a participant or supporter. If you are unsure, we encourage you to reach out to confirm if this conference is for you.Who is a tech worker? (click to expand)
A tech worker is any worker who works in the tech industry or for a tech company. This includes roles from software engineers to product managers, IT, sales, ride-share drivers, warehouse workers, delivery drivers, to any person who works for a tech company. Workers from all of these roles and more are encouraged to attend Circuit Breakers.Covid Policy (click to expand)
We care about the safety and health of our fellow workers. All attendees will be required to rapid test for Covid within 24 hours of the conference. At registration we will ask to see documentation of your negative test results and all attendees will be expected to mask unless eating or speaking on stage.How do I get in touch? (click to expand)
You can contact the conference organizers at conf (at) techworkerscoalition.orgCircuit Breakers is organized by:
