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Unions were proponents for worker safety, fair wages, anti-discrimination. They are the reason why such thing as OSHA exists today. They are the reason some law
by ibudiallo 6y ago
Unions were proponents for worker safety, fair wages, anti-discrimination. They are the reason why such thing as OSHA exists today. They are the reason some laws were passed to protect workers in the US.
But once these mandates became law, corporations used the arguments of "why do we need unions if the law already protects workers?" This and following Reagan's firing of the air traffic controllers changed the image of unions. They were now corrupt middlemen that charged you a fee to be part of the club.
And it worked. Trying to form a union is now news instead of being the natural course of things. I wager that most people in the tech side of Amazon have a hard time grasping why their coworkers are trying to unionize. (we get paid well, what's the fuss all about?)
I hope they vote in their interest, but I'm doubtful it will pass (I hope I'm wrong). These laws that are supposed to protect workers are enforced by the company's HR department[1]. The problem is that HR will side with the company before siding with any employee.
I think we need to start looking into reforming HR and making it a public service.
[1]: https://idiallo.com/blog/unions-are-not-coming-back https://idiallo.com/blog/unions-are-not-coming-back
- WalterBright 6y ago> Reagan's firing of the air traffic controllers It was illegal for the controllers to strike.
- wincy 6y agoIt’s pretty smart to make the things that benefit the weak and hurt the powerful illegal.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y agoThat argument doesn't hold water when were talking about public sector employees. You don't become a public worker to get rich. Thusly being a public worker, the government can do as they please. And unlike a private company, the government can break the law.
- ibudiallo 6y agoUnless I'm missing something obvious, striking is the only leverage a union has. If striking is illegal, what's their leverage?
- WalterBright 6y agoThe ATC union is a monopoly, which is just as bad as a business that has a monopoly. They can hold the entire aviation system in the US hostage. This is why it is illegal for them to strike. They knew when they took the job that striking was illegal. Reagan reminded them of that, and said he'd fire them if they broke the law. They did anyway, and Reagan wasn't bluffing. Reagan could have also prosecuted them, but (wisely) chose not to.
- yostrovs 6y agoFiremen and police officers are also usually not allowed to strike. For the sake of continuation of society.
- schoolornot 6y agoGrew up in a union family where I benefited greatly from the protections provided. But it seems to me that they really only help blue collar workers get higher, some would say reasonable, wages. As someone who worked their ass off for 10 years since graduating and negotiated my way to a senior role, I haven't seen one compelling reason to let someone negotiate on my behalf. Think of the smartest engineer you know. Are they in a union? Probably not.
- mitchdaily 6y agoI make way more in my unionised engineering role than I did previously working at a multinational software firm, and more importantly when I have problems with the company I have access to support and legal advice. Making bank working on software is great until the company starts to stuff you around, or some executive takes a dislike to you
- erk__ 6y agoOver here in Denmark and a few other countries in EU we have laws that requires LLC to have employee representation on the board, they are the ones who are supposed to be the friend of the common worker. https://www.worker-participation.eu/National-Industrial-Relations/Countries/Denmark/Board-level-Representation https://www.worker-participation.eu/National-Industrial-Rela...