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Because U.S. unions are the reason why unionised professions are so miserable. C.f. theatres, in which different people must take down a picture, carry a pictu

by zeveb 10y ago

Because U.S. unions are the reason why unionised professions are so miserable. C.f. theatres, in which different people must take down a picture, carry a picture to a different part of the stage, put a nail in the wall, and hang the picture. C.f. prison guards, whose unions actively lobby for increased incarceration. C.f. public 'servants,' who are effectively unfireable. When unions strike, they attack those who go to work anyway. They are closely associated with the mob and racketeering. They are, from what I can tell, generally worse than the corporations they ostensibly protect workers from. I think it should be perfectly legal to organise, perfectly legal to collectively bargain and perfectly legal to strike — but it should also be perfectly legal to fire folks who strike, and perfectly legal to refuse to deal with a union. Also, public employees should be strictly forbidden to strike, or to collectively bargain. I do kinda wish that there were a non-adversarial way for employees to have a voice with their employers, but unions as they currently exist are not the right mechanism. Maybe employment contracts? There was a time in history when businesses were abusive enough that unions' outrageous actions were perhaps necessary, but that's simply no longer the case. Strikes and violence to overthrow paternalistic company town and unsafe mines? Maybe. Strikes and violence to ensure that teachers who browse porn in class don't get fired? Nope.

wfo 10y ago
The employer-employee relationship is almost always adversarial, we just don't notice it because the power is so imbalanced in favor of the employer and it's to their benefit to convince you it's not adversarial. The employer pays you the absolute minimum he can to extract the maximum amount of value out of you in return. If he could force you to work an extra day for free, he would. If he could force you to work unpaid overtime, he would. If he could force you to take a risk to your own health in order to work more quickly and make him more profit, he would. This is all inherent and necessary qualities of capitalism. We have checks to try to make this system palatable for human beings to exist within -- employers are liable for workplace injuries, you must be paid for your labor (unless you are salaried), and unions exist. Corporate interests are constantly trying to undermine every single check we have installed, and to prevent new ones. They must; it's their job, it will increase profits. Most complaints about unions essentially boil down to them being too powerful. But if the government isn't going to step in and be a check on corporate power, unions had better be powerful enough to do something about it. Tricking you into thinking this relationship is not adversarial is the greatest trick your adversary has ever pulled.

by zeveb 10y ago

wfo 10y ago

The employer-employee relationship is almost always adversarial, we just don't notice it because the power is so imbalanced in favor of the employer and it's to their benefit to convince you it's not adversarial. The employer pays you the absolute minimum he can to extract the maximum amount of value out of you in return. If he could force you to work an extra day for free, he would. If he could force you to work unpaid overtime, he would. If he could force you to take a risk to your own health in order to work more quickly and make him more profit, he would. This is all inherent and necessary qualities of capitalism. We have checks to try to make this system palatable for human beings to exist within -- employers are liable for workplace injuries, you must be paid for your labor (unless you are salaried), and unions exist. Corporate interests are constantly trying to undermine every single check we have installed, and to prevent new ones. They must; it's their job, it will increase profits. Most complaints about unions essentially boil down to them being too powerful. But if the government isn't going to step in and be a check on corporate power, unions had better be powerful enough to do something about it. Tricking you into thinking this relationship is not adversarial is the greatest trick your adversary has ever pulled.