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The effect of unionization had the opposite effect in Germany, Denmark, etc. It caused a huge shift to contract work. Contractors have more protections in those

by rpiguy 9y ago

The effect of unionization had the opposite effect in Germany, Denmark, etc. It caused a huge shift to contract work. Contractors have more protections in those countries than they do here, but do not enjoy nearly the same protections as full time employees. http://ec.europa.eu/epsc/publications/strategic-notes/future-work_en http://ec.europa.eu/epsc/publications/strategic-notes/future... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/business/europe-labor-rights.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/business/europe-labor-rig... I admit that the social protections in those countries generally means that the shift to contractor work is less likely to affect things like cost of healthcare, retirement, etc. Some big US tech companies might be zombies (IBM, HP), but with our less restrictive labor laws and emphasis on entrepreneurship they have been replaced with new giants (Google, Facebook, etc.) This did not happen in the tech sector in Europe, the giants fell, Bull, Nokia, etc. and nothing rose up to their size outside of the banking sector. Part of the reason may have been that the overall environment was not flexible enough to allow new entrants, among many other factors. SAP remains strong, but I can't think of another pure software/IT company in Europe of that size or market position.

schrototo 9y ago
Neither of the articles you link to say that unionisation is the reason for the ongoing shift to contract work, or even mention unions at all... If anything, (stronger) unions are exactly what contract workers need. What caused the shift to contract work? Greed. Greedy employers who don't want to give up the tiniest bit of profit to pay for living wages, health benefits, retirement plans or workplace safety, and then have the gall to re-brand deregulation as freedom.
forapurpose 9y ago
> The effect of unionization had the opposite effect in Germany, Denmark, etc. It caused a huge shift to contract work. There's been a big shift to contract work in the US too, where unions are relatively very weak.

by rpiguy 9y ago

schrototo 9y ago

Neither of the articles you link to say that unionisation is the reason for the ongoing shift to contract work, or even mention unions at all... If anything, (stronger) unions are exactly what contract workers need. What caused the shift to contract work? Greed. Greedy employers who don't want to give up the tiniest bit of profit to pay for living wages, health benefits, retirement plans or workplace safety, and then have the gall to re-brand deregulation as freedom.

forapurpose 9y ago

> The effect of unionization had the opposite effect in Germany, Denmark, etc. It caused a huge shift to contract work. There's been a big shift to contract work in the US too, where unions are relatively very weak.