4 ms·

When there is no serious labor movement, and enforcement of labor laws is weak, employers can do practically anything they want.

• tn13 10y ago
  That is load of BS. The driver can always resign and join something else. A lot of coders work more than 8 hours a day big deal.
  • ajmurmann 10y ago
    If a coder falls asleep at the keyboard nobody else gets harmed in the vast majority of cases. Coders also have a much wider range of jobs to pick from.
  • enraged_camel 10y ago
    I'm sorry but just because someone can resign and get another job doesn't mean it's OK to abuse the shit out of them. Furthermore, you're severely overestimating the mobility of this particular class of workers. For a lot of people, finding another job (or heck, just a job) is not easy.
    • moyta 10y ago
      Exactly, despite how mobile American workers are, there is a huge cost & risk associated with changing jobs, which gives the employer the upper hand when negotiating with current employees.
  • moyta 10y ago
    How is it a load of BS, have you gone and talked to employees at Walmart, Target, Amazon and other major employers? Most feel they have no choice to comply, and if you get even a bit outside the cities on the east or west coast they are right. Where is a 50 year old in rural Wisconsin going to find work? Who is there with a job? In many areas, there aren't a plethora of jobs, and changing jobs when living paycheck to paycheck is a massive risk, you could easily lose the roof over your head. In reference to "coders", yes, a lot of skilled & talented developers give away their time to the companies they are employed by, and derive no significant benefit from it. Employers are in a position of power in many of those relationships, just as you get a job offer is the time at which the playing field is the closest to being level in that industry.
    • tn13 10y ago
      > In many areas, there aren't a plethora of jobs, and changing jobs when living paycheck to paycheck is a massive risk, you could easily lose the roof over your head. And that is precisely they should thank for the job they have in first place. Being entitled brats would only mean those jobs will go to some asian who is willing to work harder longer and for less.
  • colanderman 10y ago
    In the absence of unions or strong labor law, the lion's share of bargaining power rests with employers. This is a simple consequence of the great difference in resources available to an employer versus an employee. The imbalance remains even when there are several employers to choose from – there are still an order of magnitude more employees. Hence employees get screwed and can do nothing about it. And yes, coders could stand to unionize.
  • bdcravens 10y ago
    Most coders are learning on the job, or on HN, etc. Additionally, we tend to have more income mobility than a delivery driver.
  • abduhl 10y ago
    Coders who make over 85k a year are exempt from overtime rules in the State of California. Your comparison is not valid. Knowing labor laws in the state you work in is very important. I would recommend that everyone understand what makes an employee exempt and if they qualify.
• drieddust 10y ago
  Agreed and code monkeys who think they have options and complete freedom, wait for few more cycles of unchecked consolidation.