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> One person forms a union and tries to bully their employer into giving them better conditions Oh come one
by Cenk 9y ago
> One person forms a union and tries to bully their employer into giving them better conditions
Oh come one
- timthelion 9y agoI take it you take issue with my writing "one person" because you think it is usually multiple people? If so, I agree with you. That is simply poorly written. I should have written "a group of people". Sorry.
- Cenk 9y agoI think it’s pretty obvious that that is not the issue with what you wrote.
- timthelion 9y agoYou don't like the idea that unions try to bully their employers into having better salaries and work conditions? Would you prefer the word "pressure" to "bully"?
- fasquoika 9y agoThe word "bully" does seem to imply that the unions have all the power in the disagreement, which is rarely the case
- Latty 9y agoBully is defined as someone in a position of power harming or intimidating someone weaker. Unions are a reaction to the power imbalance of the employer/employee relationship, and at best make that equal. Characterising what Unions do as bullying is nonsense. Of course, it is becoming common for people in positions of privilege to complain that others demanding equality are bullying them by expecting the same rights they get to enjoy, so it isn't surprising.
- timthelion 9y agoI understood it to mean what wikipedia says it means: "Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying Look, I'm not on the side of the employers and against the unions. I just find the whole conflict to be "heading no where". Because it doesn't fundamentally change the relationship, it just pushes back against the power disbalance.
- Latty 9y agoThe literal next sentence in your link: > One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power, which distinguishes bullying from conflict.
- ajnin 9y agoEmployers "bully" their employees all the time to lower their salaries and work conditions under threat of unemployment. It's only fair that employees would union to balance things a little bit in the other direction.
- 549362-30499 9y agoHe's clearly talking about your characterization of unions as "bullying".