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Can you talk more about how that works out? In my interactions with the trades, there were no trade unions in the area, so most people were either 100% contract

by pnathan 10y ago

Can you talk more about how that works out? In my interactions with the trades, there were no trade unions in the area, so most people were either 100% contractor or employee, no union intermediary.

Spooky23 10y ago
Basically, the tradesman works for the union local. You get your benefits, pension/401k, etc through the union. There's some sort of skill/seniority list so if you need a master plumber + two journeyman who can do skill X, the union provides trained people. As it's become easier to break unions, you'll find that these arrangements are usually only required for government projects and specific localities. When people tell stories about guys with no necks deploying rubber rats, that's usually in NYC or a similar place. The upside to this model is you get generally well trained people with good benefits. The downside is that you get some additional baggage, which can be absurd in some situations.
- pnathan 10y ago
  Aha. OK. Yeah, there are famous downsides to trade unions, but I think we can give them the ole college try again, and not repeat earlier issues. I'm super ok with unionizing gig workers. I really hate the exploitation that's going on.
  - malandrew 10y ago
    The unionization efforts in Seattle are demonstrative. They are very clearly gearing up to push forward policies that benefit full-time drivers at the expense of part-time drivers. Proposed rules exclude new drivers from voting and exclude drivers from voting if they haven't completed enough trips in any three month period in the last 12 months. Rules like these will only advantage the full-time drivers at the expense of part-time drivers. http://media.wix.com/ugd/af6c5f_9b35175f4fe741cabc9a17ad0161eac7.pdf http://media.wix.com/ugd/af6c5f_9b35175f4fe741cabc9a17ad0161...
    - pnathan 10y ago
      Given that the exploitation is going to primarily be exploiting full-time people... I think on balance, I'm OK with this. It's also the case that the proposed rules will limit any underhanded vote packing by certain companies.

by pnathan 10y ago

Can you talk more about how that works out? In my interactions with the trades, there were no trade unions in the area, so most people were either 100% contractor or employee, no union intermediary.

Spooky23 10y ago

Basically, the tradesman works for the union local. You get your benefits, pension/401k, etc through the union. There's some sort of skill/seniority list so if you need a master plumber + two journeyman who can do skill X, the union provides trained people. As it's become easier to break unions, you'll find that these arrangements are usually only required for government projects and specific localities. When people tell stories about guys with no necks deploying rubber rats, that's usually in NYC or a similar place. The upside to this model is you get generally well trained people with good benefits. The downside is that you get some additional baggage, which can be absurd in some situations.

pnathan 10y ago
Aha. OK. Yeah, there are famous downsides to trade unions, but I think we can give them the ole college try again, and not repeat earlier issues. I'm super ok with unionizing gig workers. I really hate the exploitation that's going on.
- malandrew 10y ago
  The unionization efforts in Seattle are demonstrative. They are very clearly gearing up to push forward policies that benefit full-time drivers at the expense of part-time drivers. Proposed rules exclude new drivers from voting and exclude drivers from voting if they haven't completed enough trips in any three month period in the last 12 months. Rules like these will only advantage the full-time drivers at the expense of part-time drivers. http://media.wix.com/ugd/af6c5f_9b35175f4fe741cabc9a17ad0161eac7.pdf http://media.wix.com/ugd/af6c5f_9b35175f4fe741cabc9a17ad0161...
  - pnathan 10y ago
    Given that the exploitation is going to primarily be exploiting full-time people... I think on balance, I'm OK with this. It's also the case that the proposed rules will limit any underhanded vote packing by certain companies.