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Why do people making $150,000 a year, working safe jobs behind a desk, need a union? If this was about unionizing their warehouse staff I could understand sinki
by jdavis703 8y ago
Why do people making $150,000 a year, working safe jobs behind a desk, need a union? If this was about unionizing their warehouse staff I could understand sinking the deal. But white collar people making six figures don’t need the legal and organizing framework a union provides (for example see the employee actions at Google over the last year).
- danharaj 8y agoBecause controlling the conditions of your work is more than just a paycheck. Especially for tech workers whose work has a transformative impact on society. If you've ever been pressured into doing something unethical, that is a perfectly good rationale for forming a union.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- rmrfrmrf 8y agoI assumed the union talks were for the lower-paid foundation service staff more than the professional class, though I do think there's value in devs/ops organizing to demand more favorable work conditions. At any rate, Amazon is worried about a snowball effect of other areas unionizing in New York's wake.
- threeseed 8y agoI don't think you understand how large companies work. An engineer is never negotiating their employment conditions with HR or with senior executives. It's with their direct line manager. Who often has no power to ask for anything like parental leave or some other workplace condition. Unions negotiate at the VP of HR level and so they can demand significant changes.
- RhysU 8y agoThat must be why tech companies have had increasingly nice working conditions and, in particular, markedly longer parental leave policies of late. All the unions.
- threeseed 8y agoThat's more a reflection of a competitive market. And it's definitely not all companies. Just the top tier ones.
- jdavis703 8y ago> I don't think you understand how large companies work. I've worked in multi-thousand person orgs with both unions and non-unions. I've been tasked with everything from installing satellite dishes on top of downtown office buildings to writing code in a climate controlled office. I don't have an MBA in HR, but I do have my personal experiences and those of my coworkers. When I was installing satellite dishes it was great knowing I had union backup (even if work rules like carrying a geiger counter seemed a little over the top). When writing code the biggest risk I face is a repetitive stress injury, and a coder's salary goes a long way to buying my own ergonomic equipment.
- ken 8y agoWhat does the average salary or the presence of a desk have to do with this at all? Trade unions aren't just for poor people. I'll flip it around: what makes you think that only lower-class workers can benefit from collective bargaining?