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BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti told employees in 2015 that "when you look at companies that have unionized, the relationship [between managers and employees] is

BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti told employees in 2015 that "when you look at companies that have unionized, the relationship [between managers and employees] is much more adversarial." I suppose the remaining employees have taken the layoffs as a sign that management IS their adversary.

yyyymmddhhmmss 8y ago
“More adversarial” means “less dictatorial”. Obviously some or most bosses are not evil. Some are, and they get away with it because they can. Democracy is a beautiful thing. We should have it in our workplaces.
ardy42 8y ago
> I suppose the remaining employees have taken the layoffs as a sign that management IS their adversary. Nah, basic economics says that now that the supply of employees at Buzzfeed has been reduced, the remaining employees have more leverage to negotiate with management as rugged individualists. /s
- mc32 8y ago
  I don’t suppose they’ll care to bail the company out with their own finances if the company were to teeter on bankruptcy for the sake of collectivism...
skookumchuck 8y ago
Unions should regard businesses as their customers, not their enemies. The relationship should not be regarded as zero-sum, i.e. that the union can only win if the business loses, and vice versa.
- geezerjay 8y ago
  It's hard to keep looking at their employer as something other than their adversary when he just fires dozens of your fellow colleagues.
  - skookumchuck 8y ago
    The union pitch to businesses should be "you'll get more cost-effective results if you hire our union guys." The same pitch as any other business selling something to that business. Businesses don't treat their customers as enemies, and their transactions with them as zero-sum. At least, successful businesses don't. They know that win-win is the way to success. Unions, however, always seem to take the win-lose tack, which is why businesses don't want to deal with them.
    - wcarron 8y ago
      I think it's the other way around. Businesses see unions as enemies and transactions zero-sum. They view paying better wages and improving working conditions or providing actual benefits as a loss, rather than creating a "win" for the people who comprise the company. Why is this? Probably because the investor class "matters" more than the employee class, through some odd inversion where the people who actually add value and make the company work are subject to those who don't. Or, we could just cut the verbosity and call it like it is: Business don't want to deal with unions because of unchecked greed.
      - skookumchuck 8y ago
        > Businesses see unions as enemies Only because unions frame it that way. I used to work in a union shop, and the union members simply poured out their hate for the business on a daily basis. Who would want to do business with people that hate you? > and transactions zero-sum. Businesses that screw their customers don't last long.
        hnnh44 8y ago
        This. Canada Post went on strike early winter as a pressure tactic because it knew the company would suffer going into the holiday season. Ultimately, that only screwed over the customers.
      - milesvp 8y ago
        Single piece of anecdata for you. I know the owner of a construction company. I asked him about the 3 unions he has in his company, and his answer was that he really liked the significantly better tradesmen that the union makes available to him. He’s fairly conservative, and I’m not sure he likes unions in general, but he’s found them to be a net benefit to his company, this is after having tried staffing with and with unions.
therealforsen 8y ago
They should have taken the layoffs as a sign their company produces bad content and to get a real job.
- blueline 8y ago
  These are employees of buzzfeed news, not buzzfeed, which produces pretty high quality content.
  - justtopost 8y ago
    Even that division is hit and miss. But why would they not disambiguate the two except to keep the clickbait farm going?

yyyymmddhhmmss 8y ago

“More adversarial” means “less dictatorial”. Obviously some or most bosses are not evil. Some are, and they get away with it because they can. Democracy is a beautiful thing. We should have it in our workplaces.

ardy42 8y ago

> I suppose the remaining employees have taken the layoffs as a sign that management IS their adversary. Nah, basic economics says that now that the supply of employees at Buzzfeed has been reduced, the remaining employees have more leverage to negotiate with management as rugged individualists. /s

mc32 8y ago
I don’t suppose they’ll care to bail the company out with their own finances if the company were to teeter on bankruptcy for the sake of collectivism...

skookumchuck 8y ago

Unions should regard businesses as their customers, not their enemies. The relationship should not be regarded as zero-sum, i.e. that the union can only win if the business loses, and vice versa.

geezerjay 8y ago
It's hard to keep looking at their employer as something other than their adversary when he just fires dozens of your fellow colleagues.
- skookumchuck 8y ago
  The union pitch to businesses should be "you'll get more cost-effective results if you hire our union guys." The same pitch as any other business selling something to that business. Businesses don't treat their customers as enemies, and their transactions with them as zero-sum. At least, successful businesses don't. They know that win-win is the way to success. Unions, however, always seem to take the win-lose tack, which is why businesses don't want to deal with them.
  - wcarron 8y ago
    I think it's the other way around. Businesses see unions as enemies and transactions zero-sum. They view paying better wages and improving working conditions or providing actual benefits as a loss, rather than creating a "win" for the people who comprise the company. Why is this? Probably because the investor class "matters" more than the employee class, through some odd inversion where the people who actually add value and make the company work are subject to those who don't. Or, we could just cut the verbosity and call it like it is: Business don't want to deal with unions because of unchecked greed.
    - skookumchuck 8y ago
      > Businesses see unions as enemies Only because unions frame it that way. I used to work in a union shop, and the union members simply poured out their hate for the business on a daily basis. Who would want to do business with people that hate you? > and transactions zero-sum. Businesses that screw their customers don't last long.
      - hnnh44 8y ago
        This. Canada Post went on strike early winter as a pressure tactic because it knew the company would suffer going into the holiday season. Ultimately, that only screwed over the customers.
    - milesvp 8y ago
      Single piece of anecdata for you. I know the owner of a construction company. I asked him about the 3 unions he has in his company, and his answer was that he really liked the significantly better tradesmen that the union makes available to him. He’s fairly conservative, and I’m not sure he likes unions in general, but he’s found them to be a net benefit to his company, this is after having tried staffing with and with unions.

therealforsen 8y ago

They should have taken the layoffs as a sign their company produces bad content and to get a real job.

blueline 8y ago
These are employees of buzzfeed news, not buzzfeed, which produces pretty high quality content.
- justtopost 8y ago
  Even that division is hit and miss. But why would they not disambiguate the two except to keep the clickbait farm going?