4 ms·

> why would the company be going so hard in the paint to get you to NOT join the union I don’t think this is a very compelling argument. In general, many thin

> why would the company be going so hard in the paint to get you to NOT join the union I don’t think this is a very compelling argument. In general, many things are good for both the employer and employee, or bad for both employer and employee. For example, the employer and employee probably both agree on whether a government subsidy for the industry is good for them. Suppose someone was proposing that 1% of wages at a factory be set on fire in the dumpster out back. You’d expect both the employee and the employer to oppose that. The employee wants that 1% and the employer doesn’t want to have to raise wages 1% to prevent their employees from going to work somewhere else where 1% of wages aren’t being set on fire. If you believe the employer’s argument that unions aren’t useful and basically just exist to fund their own operations through dues, then it’s analogous to the “light 1% of the wages on fire” scenario.

_huayra_ 6y ago
> If you believe the employer’s argument that unions aren’t useful and basically just exist to fund their own operations through dues, then it’s analogous to the “light 1% of the wages on fire” scenario. But why would the company care if all the employees decided to light 1% of wages on fire? I'm sure there are a lot of things employees buy that hurt worker productivity (e.g. alcohol, pot in many states), but beyond jobs that require clean urine tests I don't see big companies like Amazon asking public officials to change traffic light timings around liquor stores to make it less convenient for employees to buy their performance-hindering substances [0]. However, I understand that for someone barely scraping by, in a country that basically went to war with unions and labor, a union can be a very hard sell when they aren't ubiquitous like in many European nations. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22287191/amazon-alabama-warehouse-union-traffic-light-change-bessemer https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22287191/amazon-alabama-w...

_huayra_ 6y ago

> If you believe the employer’s argument that unions aren’t useful and basically just exist to fund their own operations through dues, then it’s analogous to the “light 1% of the wages on fire” scenario. But why would the company care if all the employees decided to light 1% of wages on fire? I'm sure there are a lot of things employees buy that hurt worker productivity (e.g. alcohol, pot in many states), but beyond jobs that require clean urine tests I don't see big companies like Amazon asking public officials to change traffic light timings around liquor stores to make it less convenient for employees to buy their performance-hindering substances [0]. However, I understand that for someone barely scraping by, in a country that basically went to war with unions and labor, a union can be a very hard sell when they aren't ubiquitous like in many European nations. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22287191/amazon-alabama-warehouse-union-traffic-light-change-bessemer https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22287191/amazon-alabama-w...