4 ms·

A petition isn't the best way to go about it, but, a lot of the comments in the OP about this imply a workplace that employees aren't able to bring their concer

by sbov 10y ago

A petition isn't the best way to go about it, but, a lot of the comments in the OP about this imply a workplace that employees aren't able to bring their concerns up to management. Of course, this was just a dress code, but that works both for and against the reaction to it: it was just a dress code, how will you treat me if I bring up a more serious issue?

mashlol 10y ago
> it was just a dress code, how will you treat me if I bring up a more serious issue? They did bring up the dress code issue to their managers, and it was dismissed. Petitioning it is a level above that, and while I agree that firing them is a bit much, it doesn't mean they can't take feedback necessarily. It sounds like they would still be receptive if you bring up a more serious issue in the proper way (i.e. talking to your manager).
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- cm3 10y ago
  Couldn't they have just ignored the request like politicians ignore many things asked for by their constituents, or is firing the intern the easiest way because an intern isn't a full-time employee anyway and it will mute the discussion?
eli_gottlieb 10y ago
>A petition isn't the best way to go about it Indeed, the better way is to unionize and bargain. Work contracts and conditions are a matter of haggling between self-interested groups, and while the interns should certainly accept dress codes as conditions of employment now, they should be testing the limits of their bargaining power together to see what they can accomplish for the future.
- njloof 10y ago
  Having worked under a union contract for 13 years (as a member of the Animation Guild), I hope that this suggestion gets taken more seriously -- not over dress codes, perhaps, but over issues of workplace safety; and that includes the damage done to young tech workers asked to work 80+ hour weeks for months on end at no cost to the employer over a 40 hour week. It's damaging both physically and mentally, and the companies that do it should know better. (Startups where all parties have honest information about the gamble they're taking are an exception -- and startups are typically not the kinds of places that unionize because the process takes longer than the startup lasts.)
  - syshum 10y ago
    >that includes the damage done to young tech workers asked to work 80+ hour weeks for months on end at no cost to the employer over a 40 hour week. That is not really a union issue, what we need is a few tech workers to push for IRS Exemption rules and sue over it, to get some clear established case law on who and who is not exempt from overtime. The IRS and DOL have been woefully derelict in their guidance on this issue, and I personally believe that many of the IT workers that are classified as exempt today should not be.
    - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
      The Bush Administration passed a regulation exempting "computer professionals" broadly from overtime pay in 2003. It is really a union issue: the government can't be counted on to have workers' interests at heart when workers aren't the ones running the government. Workers should do it ourselves.
      - serge2k 10y ago
        > exempting "computer professionals" broadly from overtime pay in 2003. I don't understand why this is still a thing. How have we, as a group, not gotten such a horrible law overturned. Oh right, some people think working 60 hours a week is okay. sigh.

by sbov 10y ago

mashlol 10y ago

> it was just a dress code, how will you treat me if I bring up a more serious issue? They did bring up the dress code issue to their managers, and it was dismissed. Petitioning it is a level above that, and while I agree that firing them is a bit much, it doesn't mean they can't take feedback necessarily. It sounds like they would still be receptive if you bring up a more serious issue in the proper way (i.e. talking to your manager).

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
cm3 10y ago
Couldn't they have just ignored the request like politicians ignore many things asked for by their constituents, or is firing the intern the easiest way because an intern isn't a full-time employee anyway and it will mute the discussion?

eli_gottlieb 10y ago

>A petition isn't the best way to go about it Indeed, the better way is to unionize and bargain. Work contracts and conditions are a matter of haggling between self-interested groups, and while the interns should certainly accept dress codes as conditions of employment now, they should be testing the limits of their bargaining power together to see what they can accomplish for the future.

njloof 10y ago
Having worked under a union contract for 13 years (as a member of the Animation Guild), I hope that this suggestion gets taken more seriously -- not over dress codes, perhaps, but over issues of workplace safety; and that includes the damage done to young tech workers asked to work 80+ hour weeks for months on end at no cost to the employer over a 40 hour week. It's damaging both physically and mentally, and the companies that do it should know better. (Startups where all parties have honest information about the gamble they're taking are an exception -- and startups are typically not the kinds of places that unionize because the process takes longer than the startup lasts.)
- syshum 10y ago
  >that includes the damage done to young tech workers asked to work 80+ hour weeks for months on end at no cost to the employer over a 40 hour week. That is not really a union issue, what we need is a few tech workers to push for IRS Exemption rules and sue over it, to get some clear established case law on who and who is not exempt from overtime. The IRS and DOL have been woefully derelict in their guidance on this issue, and I personally believe that many of the IT workers that are classified as exempt today should not be.
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    The Bush Administration passed a regulation exempting "computer professionals" broadly from overtime pay in 2003. It is really a union issue: the government can't be counted on to have workers' interests at heart when workers aren't the ones running the government. Workers should do it ourselves.
    - serge2k 10y ago
      > exempting "computer professionals" broadly from overtime pay in 2003. I don't understand why this is still a thing. How have we, as a group, not gotten such a horrible law overturned. Oh right, some people think working 60 hours a week is okay. sigh.