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Your union needs seem much different than the typical warehouse or factory worker. Especially if you're on HN — I'm sure most everybody on this website would be

Your union needs seem much different than the typical warehouse or factory worker. Especially if you're on HN — I'm sure most everybody on this website would benefit more from "a direct relationship with my employer". A random overworked Amazon warehouse worker doesn't have that sort of managerial access or a skill to leverage for negotiating.

bko 6y ago
I don't think this is necessarily true. Turnover among low paid staff is extremely high. For instance, take McDonalds workers: McDonald's Mr. Floersch the managerial turnover was at 20% globally while that of the crew members averaged between 80 percent and 90 percent. [0] That high turnover means that low paid employees are much faster to leave. Some don't even show up to their first day of work. It's also selection bias sure. But if you talk to anyone who manages low paid employees, the primary skill set they have is interpersonal relationships with their staff, or at least the good ones. The fixed costs are very high to hire someone, regardless of salary. You have to pay a recruiter or even spend time looking through resumes, running expensive background checks, interviewing etc. Now consider the Goldman Sachs investment banking analyst. They get paid extremely well and get treated like crap. Do they have a "direct relationship with their employer"? Hardly. If you're making $10 an hour its a lot easier to find another employer paying you a similar amount than it is if you're making $200k a year. [0] https://ukdiss.com/examples/high-employee-turnover-at-mcdonald.php https://ukdiss.com/examples/high-employee-turnover-at-mcdona...
- pc86 6y ago
  Not only this (which is super accurate in my limited experience with these types of jobs in HS/college), but that high turnover even among managerial staff means that really to advance at least a few levels in the organization, all it takes is 1) sticking around; 2) not being bad at your job (not even being really good just be decent). Hell, I used to be a dishwasher then line cook at a Friendly's (east coast family restaurant, primary PA/NJ/NY/CT/MA) for two years and by the time I left for college I was the most senior person there who didn't have a key to open the building. And two of the three cooks who had keys were still in school, one HS and one college. Managing a restaurant is super demanding work but it's not that far off from median salary. It's not as much of a dead end as people think it is, especially if you start at the bottom and work up.

bko 6y ago

I don't think this is necessarily true. Turnover among low paid staff is extremely high. For instance, take McDonalds workers: McDonald's Mr. Floersch the managerial turnover was at 20% globally while that of the crew members averaged between 80 percent and 90 percent. [0] That high turnover means that low paid employees are much faster to leave. Some don't even show up to their first day of work. It's also selection bias sure. But if you talk to anyone who manages low paid employees, the primary skill set they have is interpersonal relationships with their staff, or at least the good ones. The fixed costs are very high to hire someone, regardless of salary. You have to pay a recruiter or even spend time looking through resumes, running expensive background checks, interviewing etc. Now consider the Goldman Sachs investment banking analyst. They get paid extremely well and get treated like crap. Do they have a "direct relationship with their employer"? Hardly. If you're making $10 an hour its a lot easier to find another employer paying you a similar amount than it is if you're making $200k a year. [0] https://ukdiss.com/examples/high-employee-turnover-at-mcdonald.php https://ukdiss.com/examples/high-employee-turnover-at-mcdona...

pc86 6y ago
Not only this (which is super accurate in my limited experience with these types of jobs in HS/college), but that high turnover even among managerial staff means that really to advance at least a few levels in the organization, all it takes is 1) sticking around; 2) not being bad at your job (not even being really good just be decent). Hell, I used to be a dishwasher then line cook at a Friendly's (east coast family restaurant, primary PA/NJ/NY/CT/MA) for two years and by the time I left for college I was the most senior person there who didn't have a key to open the building. And two of the three cooks who had keys were still in school, one HS and one college. Managing a restaurant is super demanding work but it's not that far off from median salary. It's not as much of a dead end as people think it is, especially if you start at the bottom and work up.