3 ms·

The most interesting bit, IMHO, is this: > In June, Microsoft said it was open to working with any labor unions that want to organize within its work

The most interesting bit, IMHO, is this: > In June, Microsoft said it was open to working with any labor unions that want to organize within its workforce, making it an outlier in the tech industry. Last year Amazon.com Inc. contested workers’ efforts to unionize. Microsoft has said it would support workers at Activision Blizzard Inc. who organized last year should its $75 billion deal for the “Call of Duty” developer close.

gyulai 4y ago
What else are they going to say in public? "Our plan is to engage in union-busting as much as we can legally get away with"? And what one company said is then compared to what another company actually did? Come on! This statement doesn't make MS an outlier, it's simply devoid of information content.
- impish9208 4y ago
  Well, the president of CWA (the union) also praises them: > “Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union,” CWA President Chris Shelton said. “Other videogame and tech giants have made a conscious choice to attack, undermine, and demoralize their own employees when they join together to form a union.”
  - gyulai 4y ago
    ...there's an obvious zero-sum game involved when unions negotiate with companies. Think of other zero-sum games like negotiating a price. Have you ever asked a salesperson about a price and heard them say "..the highest I can possibly extract from you"? No? Have you ever heard a salesperson say "I'll get you a great deal!" Yes? Does that convince you that most salespeople are really big on altruism?
- coldpie 4y ago
  > What else are they going to say in public? Microsoft recognizing the union instead of fighting tooth & nail to destroy it is genuinely novel behavior. They could refuse to recognize the union, or sue to invalidate the ballot, as many, many companies do: "Activision Blizzard did not respond to workers’ request for recognition of a union formed by quality assurance testers at Raven Software" https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/01/25/activision-blizzard-doesnt-respond-raven-software-union-recognition-request-by-workers-tuesday-deadline/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/01/25/activi... "The NLRB found Curaleaf violated federal labor law by refusing to recognize and bargain with workers there, but the company is appealing the decision. Curaleaf had initially challenged the result of the election, which the union won by one vote, but the labor board later ruled in UFCW’s favor." https://www.gmtoday.com/news/illinois/2022-saw-a-wave-of-new-unions-form-getting-to-the-bargaining-table-is-the/article_f5f5a0f0-8bd5-11ed-b22c-77dcad9195ea.html https://www.gmtoday.com/news/illinois/2022-saw-a-wave-of-new... "The decision ordered Starbucks subsidiary Siren Retail Corp. to negotiate with the new union at its Seattle Roastery restaurant... The company contested the union's victory because the government held an election by mail ballot rather than an in-person election. Starbucks plans to appeal the ruling." https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/starbucks-negotiate-with-union-in-seattle.aspx https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/... "Since the workers went public with their union and began to bargain, Trader Joe’s has cut hours of union employees under the guise of the "slow season," while at the same time hiring new workers and giving them full-time schedules." http://www.fightbacknews.org/2023/1/3/minneapolis-newly-organized-trader-joe-s-workers-rally-first-contract http://www.fightbacknews.org/2023/1/3/minneapolis-newly-orga...
  - gyulai 4y ago
    ...okay, so other companies had a bad time attempting that particular union-busting tactic, resulting in reputational damage (and fines?) Maybe Microsoft learned from this that the odds of success are low. Maybe labour got better at organizing these ballots in a way so they can't be contested. I fail to see how any of that means that they have a soul that's somehow pro-labour, while those other companies are soulless labour-crushing business automatons.
advisedwang 4y ago
Microsoft was required to say this by an agreement they made with CWA: https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/cwa-microsoft-announce-labor-neutrality-agreement https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/cwa-microsoft-announce-l...

gyulai 4y ago

What else are they going to say in public? "Our plan is to engage in union-busting as much as we can legally get away with"? And what one company said is then compared to what another company actually did? Come on! This statement doesn't make MS an outlier, it's simply devoid of information content.

impish9208 4y ago
Well, the president of CWA (the union) also praises them: > “Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union,” CWA President Chris Shelton said. “Other videogame and tech giants have made a conscious choice to attack, undermine, and demoralize their own employees when they join together to form a union.”
- gyulai 4y ago
  ...there's an obvious zero-sum game involved when unions negotiate with companies. Think of other zero-sum games like negotiating a price. Have you ever asked a salesperson about a price and heard them say "..the highest I can possibly extract from you"? No? Have you ever heard a salesperson say "I'll get you a great deal!" Yes? Does that convince you that most salespeople are really big on altruism?
coldpie 4y ago
> What else are they going to say in public? Microsoft recognizing the union instead of fighting tooth & nail to destroy it is genuinely novel behavior. They could refuse to recognize the union, or sue to invalidate the ballot, as many, many companies do: "Activision Blizzard did not respond to workers’ request for recognition of a union formed by quality assurance testers at Raven Software" https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/01/25/activision-blizzard-doesnt-respond-raven-software-union-recognition-request-by-workers-tuesday-deadline/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/01/25/activi... "The NLRB found Curaleaf violated federal labor law by refusing to recognize and bargain with workers there, but the company is appealing the decision. Curaleaf had initially challenged the result of the election, which the union won by one vote, but the labor board later ruled in UFCW’s favor." https://www.gmtoday.com/news/illinois/2022-saw-a-wave-of-new-unions-form-getting-to-the-bargaining-table-is-the/article_f5f5a0f0-8bd5-11ed-b22c-77dcad9195ea.html https://www.gmtoday.com/news/illinois/2022-saw-a-wave-of-new... "The decision ordered Starbucks subsidiary Siren Retail Corp. to negotiate with the new union at its Seattle Roastery restaurant... The company contested the union's victory because the government held an election by mail ballot rather than an in-person election. Starbucks plans to appeal the ruling." https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/starbucks-negotiate-with-union-in-seattle.aspx https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/... "Since the workers went public with their union and began to bargain, Trader Joe’s has cut hours of union employees under the guise of the "slow season," while at the same time hiring new workers and giving them full-time schedules." http://www.fightbacknews.org/2023/1/3/minneapolis-newly-organized-trader-joe-s-workers-rally-first-contract http://www.fightbacknews.org/2023/1/3/minneapolis-newly-orga...
- gyulai 4y ago
  ...okay, so other companies had a bad time attempting that particular union-busting tactic, resulting in reputational damage (and fines?) Maybe Microsoft learned from this that the odds of success are low. Maybe labour got better at organizing these ballots in a way so they can't be contested. I fail to see how any of that means that they have a soul that's somehow pro-labour, while those other companies are soulless labour-crushing business automatons.

advisedwang 4y ago

Microsoft was required to say this by an agreement they made with CWA: https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/cwa-microsoft-announce-labor-neutrality-agreement https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/cwa-microsoft-announce-l...

The most interesting bit, IMHO, is this: > In June, Mi­crosoft said it was open to work­ing with any la­bor unions that want to or­ga­nize within its work­

The most interesting bit, IMHO, is this: > In June, Mi­crosoft said it was open to work­ing with any la­bor unions that want to or­ga­nize within its work­

The most interesting bit, IMHO, is this: > In June, Microsoft said it was open to working with any labor unions that want to organize within its work

The most interesting bit, IMHO, is this: > In June, Microsoft said it was open to working with any labor unions that want to organize within its work