After avoiding unions for decades, tech workers are increasingly interested in ways that the labor movement might help give them a stronger voice inside their powerful organizations.

Why it matters: We're not about to see broad-scale unionization at tech companies — but even a small foothold could serve as a check on the power of Amazon, Google and others.

Driving the news:

• Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting next week on whether to unionize. Amazon is aggressively lobbying workers to reject the effort, posting anti-union fliers and texting workers several times per day, according to the Washington Post.
• Workers at Google set up a minority union, the Alphabet Workers Union, in conjunction with the Communication Workers of America. It can't negotiate contracts or speak formally for employees, but it can speak out on issues of concern and collect dues. More than 800 people have signed up as paid members.

On Thursday, the Alphabet Workers Union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Bureau on behalf of a Google subcontractor.

• The complaint alleges that she was unfairly suspended and criticized after engaging in protected activities such as voicing support for the union and discussing pay and working conditions.

Yes, but: The Google effort got off to a strong start, but has already hit some bumps as members were blindsided by an effort to take the push global.

The big picture: Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor expert and professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, notes that while unions are thought of as representing assembly-line workers, some of the most powerful unions today are ones that represent highly paid, very specialized workers, such as professional football players.

• By contrast, many unions that represent manufacturing employees have lost power in recent decades as companies can use the threat or reality of moving work overseas.
• He points to the unionization of actors and other movie industry professionals in the 1930s as an example of well paid workers pushing back against a very powerful institution — the Hollywood studios.

Between the lines: Tech is actually seeing both kinds of unionization efforts. The Alabama workers at Amazon, for example, are warehouse workers and a modern example of a typical organized labor effort.

• The minority union effort at Google is more akin to the Hollywood example, though actors, writers, directors and even producers are represented by full unions, rather than the minority union approach being taken at Alphabet.
• What unites them is that they both represent a break in values and goals between tech’s managerial class and the rank and file, and are an expression of the latter trying to band together to increase its power against the former.

Changing attitudes are behind some of the renewed effort, Lichtenstein said.

• "We do have a sizable proportion of the young people in this country open to radical ideas now in a way they weren’t for many years," he said. "I think that is having an impact on Silicon Valley."

Reality check: Lichtenstein said workers don't have to unionize fully to be successful. Simply organizing and speaking out without getting fired can be a victory for labor, he said.

• But, he cautions, it is "not clear that will be the case."

Seniors are supposed to be among the first Americans to get COVID-19 vaccines, but they're running into a major problem: Signing up for the appointments online, Axios' Ashley Gold and Marisa Fernandez report.

The big picture: Millions of older Americans aren't online at all, and many who do have internet access are struggling to find and use the sign-up portals that local health officials have scrambled to set up.

Driving the news: "Americans over the age of 50 are unsure how to make or confirm their appointment and are deeply frustrated and increasingly desperate," AARP executive vice president Nancy LeaMond wrote to the House Energy and Commerce committee this week.

• "Many do not have access to the internet or do not have experience using online appointment systems."

By the numbers: Though internet use among seniors is on the rise, nearly 22 million seniors, or 42% of the nation's over-65 population, lack broadband access at home, according to a January report from Older Adults Technology Services, a nonprofit affiliate of AARP.

• 80% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths have been seniors.

Meanwhile: With cities and counties largely left to stand up sign-up websites on their own, there's no standardized process seniors can follow to register for vaccine appointments.

• Unintuitive user interfaces and other tech barriers are driving seniors to simply give up altogether on trying to sign up, said OATS executive director Thomas Kamber.
• And traffic surges have caused some portals to crash or stall, keeping even determined users from being able to register.

"This is the kind of problem technology can solve," Kamber said. "But it requires a minimum level of technology capacity and engagement, which as a country we've failed to create the baseline for among seniors. And we're seeing the consequences right now.

What's next: Peter Kaldes, CEO of the American Society on Aging, told Axios he'd like to see lawmakers enact emergency funding for infrastructure to support individual sign-up portals — and to subsidize broadband connections for older Americans.

Due to the pandemic, this year's Super Bowl is different from any past championship game. And tech is playing a big role.

The big picture: You'll need a smartphone just to get in the door, as there are no paper tickets. Concessions are also mobile payment only — no cash.

What's changed this year? "Everything," says Michelle McKenna, the NFL's chief information officer.

Among the differences:

• Only 25,000 fans will be allowed, including 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers. People will be seated directly next to only those in their party, with space between other groups.
• The halftime entertainment will also look and feel different, McKenna said, because of how the league had to deal with the acts given the pandemic. She declined to go into more detail, not wanting to spoil the show.

Verizon, which spends a bundle to be a league sponsor, will also use the event as a showcase for its high-speed millimeter-wave flavor of 5G.

• It invested $80 million to upgrade Raymond James Stadium and its surrounds, including laying 60 miles of fiber in and around the stadium, according to Verizon executive vice president Tami Erwin.
• Those at the game will be able to access Verizon's high-speed network and watch any of seven camera angles on their mobile devices.

Other carriers have also upgraded for the big game.

• T-Mobile has added its mid-band 5G to key parts of Tampa and both mid-band and even faster millimeter-wave 5G at the stadium itself. It also plans to advertise on TV during the game.
• AT&T says it has invested $75 million in the Tampa area over the last 18 months, including adding millimeter-wave to Raymond James Stadium and parking lots, as well as in parts of downtown Tampa, Busch Gardens and Tampa International Airport.

A global chip shortage has forced virtually every major automaker to halt some car production and furlough workers — just as the industry was showing signs of recovery from the pandemic-related shutdowns last spring, Axios Navigate's Joann Muller reports.

Why it matters: Fewer chips, fewer cars. Semiconductors are widely used in cars, to power everything from engines to power windows, as well as driver-assistance and navigation features.

What's going on: Automakers needed fewer chips when the pandemic forced them to halt production. Chipmakers curbed production, but they haven't ramped back up to meet the industry's abrupt demand rebound.

• Not helping: A tension long in the making. The tech industry's chip appetite has been surging. But it skyrocketed when the pandemic supercharged appetite for electronics that need chips to operate.

The list of chip shortage victims keeps growing: Ford is the latest, slashing production of its top money-making F-150 pickup trucks because of the limited supply of the key auto component.

• The company joins General Motors, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mazda and Subaru in cutting production output — all citing the semiconductor shortage.

By the numbers: The problem will result in nearly 700,000 fewer vehicles produced globally this quarter alone, according to new research from IHS Markit. It also said the problem might not let up until Q3.

• Alix Partners says the lost revenue could be as much as $61 billion this year, per Bloomberg.

Trading Places

• The Wikimedia Foundation said CEO Katherine Mayer will step down as of April 15.

ICYMI

• The Information has details from a source on what Apple's initial VR/AR headset is set to be like. (The Information)
• Microsoft launched Viva, a new set of modern office tools within its Teams product. (The Verge)
• Snap shares sank after the company gave weak earnings guidance and said it could feel the bite from Apple's new privacy rules. (Axios)
• Author Walter Issacson talked about the future of Amazon and Jeff Bezos on the Axios Re:Cap podcast with Dan Primack. (Axios)
• Google announced the Australian launch of its platform for news that it pays publishers for, as it looks to dodge new regulation in the country. (Reuters)

Wow. That's one way to get the oranges down from the tree. Or maybe blueberries are more your thing.