87% of eBay's trading card experts 'earn less than a living wage,' so the only thing left to do is go on strike

TCG authenticating is an integral part of any trading card ecosystem, especially for big-time collectors or players who just want to honor some of their greatest cards. Unfortunately, life for the people behind the authenticators isn't so easy, as earlier this month one of the biggest authentication centers went on strike to demand better wages and respect. 

The Campaign to Organise Digital Employees in the Tech, Games, and Digital Industries <a data-analytics-id=«inline-link» href=«https://x.com/CODE_CWA/status/1841497601738178946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1841497601738178946%7Ctwgr%5E42ded1c2bb09a929922082cc7a9430267fe276df%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.polygon.com%2Ftabletop-games%2F459782%2Ftcgplayer-union-ebay-rally-fair-pay» target="_blank" data-url=«https://x.com/CODE_CWA/status/1841497601738178946?ref_src=» https: referrerpolicy=«no-referrer-when-downgrade» data-hl-processed=«none»>(CODE-CWA) announced

that members of eBay's authentication center in Syracuse would be going on strike on October 3 as part of a rally for living wages. «The majority of eBay authentication centre workers in Syracuse earn less than a living wage for a single person without children,» CODE-CWA says in <a data-analytics-id=«inline-link» href=«https://x.com/CODE_CWA/status/1841497601738178946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1841497601738178946%7Ctwgr%5E42ded1c2bb09a929922082cc7a9430267fe276df%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.polygon.com%2Ftabletop-games%2F459782%2Ftcgplayer-union-ebay-rally-fair-pay» target="_blank" data-url=«https://x.com/CODE_CWA/status/1841497601738178946?ref_src=» https: referrerpolicy=«no-referrer-when-downgrade» data-hl-processed=«none»>a tweet. «eBay is worth almost $29 Billion.» 

The authentication centre in Syracuse deals with thousands of Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic: The Gathering cards a day, and most of the work sees authenticators standing in one spot sorting inspected cards for hours on