5 ms·

Notable context: the Editorial Team recently failed to unionize. https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dp7y3/medium-tells-journalists-to-feel-free-to-quit-after-bus

Notable context: the Editorial Team recently failed to unionize. https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dp7y3/medium-tells-journalists-to-feel-free-to-quit-after-busting-union-drive https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dp7y3/medium-tells-journali... > A current Medium employee said they believe that the move was retaliation for unionizing: “Editorial was the department that supported the union most vocally and visibly ... this is coming basically a month after a failed union drive preceded by pretty blatant union busting tactics by management.”

ggm 6y ago
I'm pre-conditioned to believe this, but I think I'd need to understand how generous in the US employment context the VSP is to refine my views further. There's enough hook to hang this on. But, the overt language does go to a pivot. Of course, in the event a lot of people took the VSP, subsequently there might be re-hiring. It would be stupid for them to hire "editors", if they did hire people. Presumably, on some new terms and conditions.
CaliforniaKarl 6y ago
Important (IMO) to note: All employees attempted to unionize, not just editorial. This quote from earlier in the article: > The move comes less than one month after all Medium employees—including the editorial unit—attempted to unionize and lost by one vote. Employees at the company say that journalists who work at Medium’s nine publications were not the initial driving force behind the union, but were some of the most vocal supporters of it. The news media industry (including VICE) is highly unionized; the tech industry is not.
- throwawaysea 6y ago
  The fact that the news media industry is heavily unionized seems indicative of a bias in itself. It means the members are more likely to take labor centric stances and be against free market stances - in other words, left leaning. Unions also often force institutional political stances on members (see NEA and teachers for example) - it’s an avenue by which a neutral institution can become ideologically compromised. This is exactly what was reflected in the editorial work of Medium, such as their first party magazines. It turned off readers greatly, and the comments in this very post even call it out.
  - 3np 6y ago
    Unionization is not at odds with free market, as long as it’s not mandated by regulation.
  - sofixa 6y ago
    I find it funny how you're contrasting labor centric and free market. What is the market based on, if not labor? Why do you consider that caring for that labor is anti-"free market"? I guess a purist might think that even a minimum wage is anti-"free market", but I'd argue that such purists are living in an alternate reality and that argument is wrong.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    Germany and Japan both have unions, yet free markets in both places are doing just fine.
anitil 6y ago
This is probably demonstrating my ignorance, but what does it mean to 'fail to unionize'? Does it mean that they were trying to create a new union but not enough people joined? Typically in Australia people join unions related to their award (broadly correlating with industry) rather than a specific employer, so it's not something I'm familiar with.
- MattGaiser 6y ago
  > The move comes less than one month after all Medium employees—including the editorial unit—attempted to unionize and lost by one vote. The employees voted against having a union.
  - anitil 6y ago
    Ok so this is a union specific to Medium. What I'm not understanding is can't you have a union anyway? Why does it need to be a majority/some threshold?
    - saagarjha 6y ago
      A union that is lacking in majority has little bargaining power?
      - sofixa 6y ago
        Even 30% of your employees have significant bargaining power - losing them all at once could be devastating to any entity.
    - epc 6y ago
      In the US, a union must represent a majority of the workers identified as potential members of the collective bargaining unit in order to gain that negotiating status under Federal and State laws. Once recognized through a vote or collection of cards representing a majority, the union can negotiate a contract and labor agreement representing all employees (I’m fuzzy on whether recent judicial decisions have weakened this to just formal union members).

ggm 6y ago

I'm pre-conditioned to believe this, but I think I'd need to understand how generous in the US employment context the VSP is to refine my views further. There's enough hook to hang this on. But, the overt language does go to a pivot. Of course, in the event a lot of people took the VSP, subsequently there might be re-hiring. It would be stupid for them to hire "editors", if they did hire people. Presumably, on some new terms and conditions.

CaliforniaKarl 6y ago

Important (IMO) to note: All employees attempted to unionize, not just editorial. This quote from earlier in the article: > The move comes less than one month after all Medium employees—including the editorial unit—attempted to unionize and lost by one vote. Employees at the company say that journalists who work at Medium’s nine publications were not the initial driving force behind the union, but were some of the most vocal supporters of it. The news media industry (including VICE) is highly unionized; the tech industry is not.

throwawaysea 6y ago
The fact that the news media industry is heavily unionized seems indicative of a bias in itself. It means the members are more likely to take labor centric stances and be against free market stances - in other words, left leaning. Unions also often force institutional political stances on members (see NEA and teachers for example) - it’s an avenue by which a neutral institution can become ideologically compromised. This is exactly what was reflected in the editorial work of Medium, such as their first party magazines. It turned off readers greatly, and the comments in this very post even call it out.
- 3np 6y ago
  Unionization is not at odds with free market, as long as it’s not mandated by regulation.
- sofixa 6y ago
  I find it funny how you're contrasting labor centric and free market. What is the market based on, if not labor? Why do you consider that caring for that labor is anti-"free market"? I guess a purist might think that even a minimum wage is anti-"free market", but I'd argue that such purists are living in an alternate reality and that argument is wrong.
- fakedang 6y ago
  Germany and Japan both have unions, yet free markets in both places are doing just fine.

anitil 6y ago

This is probably demonstrating my ignorance, but what does it mean to 'fail to unionize'? Does it mean that they were trying to create a new union but not enough people joined? Typically in Australia people join unions related to their award (broadly correlating with industry) rather than a specific employer, so it's not something I'm familiar with.

MattGaiser 6y ago
> The move comes less than one month after all Medium employees—including the editorial unit—attempted to unionize and lost by one vote. The employees voted against having a union.
- anitil 6y ago
  Ok so this is a union specific to Medium. What I'm not understanding is can't you have a union anyway? Why does it need to be a majority/some threshold?
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    A union that is lacking in majority has little bargaining power?
    - sofixa 6y ago
      Even 30% of your employees have significant bargaining power - losing them all at once could be devastating to any entity.
  - epc 6y ago
    In the US, a union must represent a majority of the workers identified as potential members of the collective bargaining unit in order to gain that negotiating status under Federal and State laws. Once recognized through a vote or collection of cards representing a majority, the union can negotiate a contract and labor agreement representing all employees (I’m fuzzy on whether recent judicial decisions have weakened this to just formal union members).