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Currently in programming/software jobs in the tech industry, salaries and perks are good and there is relative freedom in how you spend your time on the job doi
by grok2 8y ago
Currently in programming/software jobs in the tech industry, salaries and perks are good and there is relative freedom in how you spend your time on the job doing the job (atleast in all the jobs I've been in -- all in the US). Unionizing will impact all of those -- ultimately whatever the benefits, unions will be seen as creating an us-vs-them environment where the default view is management fighting the employees (it doesn't have to be that way, but I feel that will be the end result at some point). The end result of that will be that employees will be more constrained in their freedom/salaries to whatever is negotiated by the union.
Just a personal view-point. I don't have direct union experience other that what I read about. Teachers union/nurses union/workers union typically going on strike every few years to get a cost-of-living increase in wages. Unions of tradespeople seem to be better though, but it still seems like salaries are constrained in those areas.
- vkou 8y agoManagement is already fighting employees. The difference is, management bargains collectively, and employees do not. For anyone who thinks that they have a strong bargaining position, or enjoy great perks: Try asking for an escape from the open-office-floor-plan-hell, by getting your own office. You'll quickly see exactly how valued your special snowflake concerns are to the company.
- grok2 8y agoThat, I see as a bad example of needing a union for depending on what the company is preferring the open-office floor-plan for. I think it makes sense for a company to optimize on real-estate costs to run a viable business. After-all they aren't forcing you to work there. I see unions as a way to protect employees from being unfairly taken advantage of (long hours without commensurate benefits and choice on your part, dangerous working conditions, bad salaries/wages). A bad office design is a bad office design and you need to convince your company that it's not in their best interests by other means or work elsewhere. Using a union to deal with all this will only end up in causing bad-blood all around. For certain things legislation is better -- you can blame the "government" boogeyman instead of being pissed with each other.
- pjmlp 8y agoWe have IT unions in Germany, love everything that they got for me.
- grok2 8y agoA question for you -- are unions mandatory or it's just a normal way of life there. Also do small startups have unions? What's the tipping point for having a union at a tech company.
- pjmlp 8y agoThey are not mandatory. There is a minimal amount of employees, I think around 30, where there is legal support for the workers to organize and request the presence of the union in the company. Usually it requires a voting process for everyone to decide if they are willing to adopt one or not. One of the unions that represents IT is IG Metal.
- grok2 8y agoAnother tricky question -- does having the union prevent (or atleast make it difficult) for a company to pay way higher than normal for someone (who will be a union represented employee) they deem necessary for the company? Maybe what I am asking is -- does having unions constrain pay-hikes in any way?
- pjmlp 8y agoFor the companies that join the pay agreements (it is optional) usually the pay might be better than if you negotiate on your own. I managed to get pay raises, while other friends of mine had their salary frozen. I guess the situation might be different across the industry, a fellow German HNer might provide a better picture.