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Software engineers and people who work in IT departments in general should unionize, because outside of the big five tech companies, these employees are mistrea

Software engineers and people who work in IT departments in general should unionize, because outside of the big five tech companies, these employees are mistreated relative to other employees at their company. Consider: 1) Workers in IT departments are less likely to get bonuses. 2) They are often asked to put in longer hours than people in other departments, because of deadlines. 3) They often have to work weekends because of “emergencies” and DevOps-related tasks that can’t take place on weekdays. Guess who’s patching the servers this Saturday? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Bob in Sales.

lolsal 9y ago
> 1) Workers in IT departments are less likely to get bonuses. Sincere question - why should they? Are they denied bonuses that they are contractually obligated due to their compensation package? > 2) They are often asked to put in longer hours than people in other departments, because of deadlines. Sales people are often asked to travel away from their family and their homes. To me this seems like a normal 'part of the job' you sign up for. > 3) They often have to work weekends because of “emergencies” and DevOps-related tasks that can’t take place on weekdays. Guess who’s patching the servers this Saturday? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Bob in Sales. Who else should do it? Isn't that factored into their compensation and outlined in their responsibilities before they take the job? It seems like it's part of their job to do that, more so than clicking around on HN or Reddit during the week.
- lovich 9y ago
  Those arguments could be used against any sort of worker mobilization ever. I do agree that they aren't great reasons to unionize. The real reason the workers should unionize is because they can, and if they do they can capture a greater percentage of the profits that the company attempts to keep for themselves
- justboxing 9y ago
  > Are they denied bonuses that they are contractually obligated due to their compensation package? No. The usual explanation given (in large corporate company's IT Departments) is that IT is a 'Cost Center' and not a 'Revenue Generating' center. Forget the fact that it's the software and services that these 'Cost Centers' build and maintain, which is helping Bob in sales close his sale. Source: Me. Worked at 5 different Enterprise IT companies. Got the same response from every Manager. What's even more obscene is the Managers in IT get bonuses, but not the Engineers who are doing the actual work.
fucking_tragedy 9y ago
> outside of the big five tech companies It is in the employees of these companies' interests, as well. Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Pixar, Lucasfilm and eBay [0] colluded to prevent competition, and thus increased pay and mobility, among their employees. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L...

lolsal 9y ago

> 1) Workers in IT departments are less likely to get bonuses. Sincere question - why should they? Are they denied bonuses that they are contractually obligated due to their compensation package? > 2) They are often asked to put in longer hours than people in other departments, because of deadlines. Sales people are often asked to travel away from their family and their homes. To me this seems like a normal 'part of the job' you sign up for. > 3) They often have to work weekends because of “emergencies” and DevOps-related tasks that can’t take place on weekdays. Guess who’s patching the servers this Saturday? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Bob in Sales. Who else should do it? Isn't that factored into their compensation and outlined in their responsibilities before they take the job? It seems like it's part of their job to do that, more so than clicking around on HN or Reddit during the week.

lovich 9y ago
Those arguments could be used against any sort of worker mobilization ever. I do agree that they aren't great reasons to unionize. The real reason the workers should unionize is because they can, and if they do they can capture a greater percentage of the profits that the company attempts to keep for themselves
justboxing 9y ago
> Are they denied bonuses that they are contractually obligated due to their compensation package? No. The usual explanation given (in large corporate company's IT Departments) is that IT is a 'Cost Center' and not a 'Revenue Generating' center. Forget the fact that it's the software and services that these 'Cost Centers' build and maintain, which is helping Bob in sales close his sale. Source: Me. Worked at 5 different Enterprise IT companies. Got the same response from every Manager. What's even more obscene is the Managers in IT get bonuses, but not the Engineers who are doing the actual work.

fucking_tragedy 9y ago

> outside of the big five tech companies It is in the employees of these companies' interests, as well. Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Pixar, Lucasfilm and eBay [0] colluded to prevent competition, and thus increased pay and mobility, among their employees. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L...