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Aren't those industry wide unions whose main purpose is to set wage floors because there are so many people desperately trying to get into the industry that wit

by mrep 7y ago

Aren't those industry wide unions whose main purpose is to set wage floors because there are so many people desperately trying to get into the industry that without them, employee conditions would be terrible for those just starting out? I don't think that is a problem for programmers and it is way different than a company specific union. If you want to start an industry wide programmer union, by all means, start one and then try and get people to join it. I'd love to hear what benefits you think I would get by joining an industry wide programmer union.

pnutjam 7y ago
Not a problem, yet...
gamblor956 7y ago
Hollywood unions are not industry-wide. The unions have only negotiated with the major studios and some of the more prolific independent studios. For example, Netflix hasn't (currently) entered into any agreements with the unions, though rumors are that Netflix will become sometime before the end of 2020.
Pfhreak 7y ago
1) Wage floors (this is a problem in some parts of our industry. Game development, for instance. Maybe in other tech related fields like sysadmins? I'm less familiar.) 2) Healthcare benefits 3) Negotiating better IP control. Side projects, open source, etc. are locked down at various companies. There was a front page story about this today. 4) Better treatment for oncall. I know folks who have had to work for 17 consecutive hours for an incident and got nothing. 5) Better treatment for crunch -- tech workers in games have this particularly bad, but it's not limited to just that industry. 6) More control over how the company outsources/contracts with workers 7) All sorts of other side benefits that could be collectively funded -- union libraries, training, networks, publications, resources for new professionals, discounts on union developed software, etc. 8) Parental leave, sick time, and other basic benefits 9) Ensure and oversee processes to protect people who end up on the public stage. If you believe cancel culture is a thing, maybe having a union rep on hand and an established process for managing firings would be in your best interest. 10) Forced arbitration is another thing I'd consider talking with a union about. 11) Having a union rep on hand for HR proceedings

by mrep 7y ago

pnutjam 7y ago

Not a problem, yet...

gamblor956 7y ago

Hollywood unions are not industry-wide. The unions have only negotiated with the major studios and some of the more prolific independent studios. For example, Netflix hasn't (currently) entered into any agreements with the unions, though rumors are that Netflix will become sometime before the end of 2020.

Pfhreak 7y ago

1) Wage floors (this is a problem in some parts of our industry. Game development, for instance. Maybe in other tech related fields like sysadmins? I'm less familiar.) 2) Healthcare benefits 3) Negotiating better IP control. Side projects, open source, etc. are locked down at various companies. There was a front page story about this today. 4) Better treatment for oncall. I know folks who have had to work for 17 consecutive hours for an incident and got nothing. 5) Better treatment for crunch -- tech workers in games have this particularly bad, but it's not limited to just that industry. 6) More control over how the company outsources/contracts with workers 7) All sorts of other side benefits that could be collectively funded -- union libraries, training, networks, publications, resources for new professionals, discounts on union developed software, etc. 8) Parental leave, sick time, and other basic benefits 9) Ensure and oversee processes to protect people who end up on the public stage. If you believe cancel culture is a thing, maybe having a union rep on hand and an established process for managing firings would be in your best interest. 10) Forced arbitration is another thing I'd consider talking with a union about. 11) Having a union rep on hand for HR proceedings