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I don't see how individual unions help solve this problem. A union that makes meaningful changes to conditions and wages at one employer would hobble that emplo
by bagacrap 5y ago
I don't see how individual unions help solve this problem. A union that makes meaningful changes to conditions and wages at one employer would hobble that employer's ability to compete, they'd go out of business, and a non-unionized workforce/employer would replace them. This seems like a job for government and/or market forces. The latter actually have been working well recently near where I live, as the labor shortage has caused many employers in the restaurant industry to raise starting salaries to ~$20/hr before tips.
That said, this article is about tech workers, not line cooks, so any conclusions drawn from union experiences at $COFFEECHAIN are perhaps not easily mappable to Google.
- handoflixue 5y agoDo you have examples of how unionization destroys the ability to compete? Because I know of tons of union jobs around where I live, and they routinely compete with non-union jobs. Many of the union companies are major players who have been around for decades, which suggests that a happy, well-treated workforce might actually be an advantage.
- bagacrap 5y agoDetroit based auto makers would be the most obvious example. If agreeing to union demands did not in some way cost the employer something, why would it need to be bargained out of them?
- handoflixue 5y ago> If agreeing to union demands did not in some way cost the employer something, why would it need to be bargained out of them? It costs them control and social status. A lot of people have egos that don't like yielding either of those, even if it's otherwise a win-win exchange. Middle management has a huge incentive to produce short-term resume-building actions at the expense of long-term gains, so you should be able to quite fruitfully thwart those executives and produce gains for both the company and the rest of employees.