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Ask HN: If you were in a software developers' union, what would you fight for?
- bumblebritches5 5y ago
- kelseyfrog 5y agoThe end of overtime exemption status. No one should be allowed to work off the clock. It is legalized wage theft.
- missedthecue 5y agois not working while on the clock wage theft in the other direction? (stealing from employer)
- kelseyfrog 5y agoIs the argument "Because time-theft exists and operates in the opposite direction to wage theft they cancels each other out"? If I'm misinterpreting it, then please correct me.
- missedthecue 5y agoWell the parent comment reads to me like working after hours without extra pay is getting work without pay i.e. wage theft. My question is asking whether pay without work is also wage theft?
- kelseyfrog 5y agoAssume it is. Workers: We don't want to do labor unless it is tied to more pay. Employer: No, we want you to do more work with the same pay. Workers: Ok, we will do less work then. Employer: Ok, work longer hours then. It sounds a lot like what we already have right now. There are better questions than "what about time-theft?"
- jimmyvalmer 5y ago
- kelseyfrog 5y agoNot to work with this guy.
- jleyank 5y agoEnd of age discrimination top and bottom.
- glassprongs 5y agoProtect from jobs being sent overseas.
- stathibus 5y agoInfluence over the ethical decision making of the company. The best thing a software union could do is refuse to build harmful technology.
- verdverm 5y agoAll technology can be used for harm. How do you propose to make a distinction between acceptable and not?
- kelseyfrog 5y agoHow do we do it outside the workplace?
- verdverm 5y agoTypically those who cause harm are punished, rather than banning a technology for the possibility of harm. Insurance is often around too. Cars are a great example, but pretty much everything follows this pattern.
- kelseyfrog 5y agoSure, but before punishment, how is it decided what causes harm and what doesn't? My point is that this is a group activity. Ascribing the status of harm causing behaviors happens in aggregate. This is in contrast to workplace decision making which happens hierarchically. Democracy is a superior version of decision making right? Why should that idea cease to exist the moment someone steps into the workplace? Who has an interest in perpetuating the myth that workplace democracy is untenable? We run whole countries with the input of citizens, surely that could scale down to a workplace, right?
- verdverm 5y ago> Democracy is a superior version of decision making right? Not always, no. Everything has nuance and context. For example, would you like democracy and voting in the emergency room? While I don't agree with it, China has demonstrated interesting results from non-democratic decision making. Certainly direct democracy does not scale well and would be a terrible idea at out present moment. Is the country really run with the input of the citizens? What are politicians optimizing for? What are the contents of the policies being passed and what are they based on? Who's actually writing the majority of that? Do all employees have the ability and context to make informed input or decisions? Are there any decisions which will make all people happy? Do all people consider the same acts harmful?
- bjourne 5y agoSalary transparency.
- rdtwo 5y agoUsually that’s an easy Union item to get but they still anonymize it somewhat
- jarl-ragnar 5y agoAn end to companies laying claim to IP generated in your own time.
- dalmo3 5y agoThe right to not be part of the union.
- rdtwo 5y agoAgainst stacked raking and then for overtime pay. The rest is noise