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Could be. It's exceptionally hard to tell with union advocates. My partner is in one and they've done nothing but screw her over at every twist and turn, yet ma

Could be. It's exceptionally hard to tell with union advocates. My partner is in one and they've done nothing but screw her over at every twist and turn, yet many in her industry still speak (genuinely) fondly of them.

unshavedyak 3y ago
Unions are like government. They can and do serve a very important, often necessary, role. However they can also be easily corrupted without special and meticulous care. We as a society seem especially bad about the burden of collective accountability over government and unions. IMO they’re essential, but the state we end up in feels inevitable. I’m quite a pessimist as a result.
- explaininjs 3y ago
  Unions are like government. In both, the most corrupt and power hungry individuals will see a way to get a ton of money from the masses by grandstanding their way to the top, and once there will move on to the next easy cash: selling out their ability to place rules on the people that pay them to the highest bidders. I once went to a bar in Portland that had a ~20% discount if you showed them your union card when asked. If you said you didn't have a union, they'd respond: "no, you don't have a union... yet!" with a big grin on their face. Well intentioned, I'm sure. But overhearing the sheer volume of bike shedding that went on in conversations there regarding matters entirely adjacent to the folks' actual work, I can't say I want any part of it.
  - CPLX 3y ago
    > Unions are like government. Indeed. In the sense that countries that don’t have enough of them descend into an economy of competing warlords.
    - nobodyandproud 3y ago
      It’s unusual to see a CEO and founder (no matter in what level of funding) advocate for a union, especially in tech and tech-adjacent industries.
      - CPLX 3y ago
        Hopefully less unusual every year.
        explaininjs 3y ago
        I'm sure you have the best of intentions, but there is potential for a conflict of interest when the union is imposed form the top-down rather than the bottom-up, no?
        CPLX 3y ago
        There aren’t any unions imposed from the top down by definition. Members of management aren’t eligible to join unions.
        Wytwwww 3y ago
        Unless you're in Europe.
        kmeisthax 3y ago
        What you're referring to is called a "company union" and its explicitly illegal, at least in the US.
anonymouskimmer 3y ago
> My partner is in one and they've done nothing but screw her over at every twist and turn This may very well be true, but at least in my union our employer tells individual represented employees that they can't do X for the employee because of the union, without ever informing the union of the matter (which would have immediately given our okay to the matter), and despite there being no real block to X in our contract language anyway. It's a union-busting tactic.

unshavedyak 3y ago

Unions are like government. They can and do serve a very important, often necessary, role. However they can also be easily corrupted without special and meticulous care. We as a society seem especially bad about the burden of collective accountability over government and unions. IMO they’re essential, but the state we end up in feels inevitable. I’m quite a pessimist as a result.

explaininjs 3y ago
Unions are like government. In both, the most corrupt and power hungry individuals will see a way to get a ton of money from the masses by grandstanding their way to the top, and once there will move on to the next easy cash: selling out their ability to place rules on the people that pay them to the highest bidders. I once went to a bar in Portland that had a ~20% discount if you showed them your union card when asked. If you said you didn't have a union, they'd respond: "no, you don't have a union... yet!" with a big grin on their face. Well intentioned, I'm sure. But overhearing the sheer volume of bike shedding that went on in conversations there regarding matters entirely adjacent to the folks' actual work, I can't say I want any part of it.
- CPLX 3y ago
  > Unions are like government. Indeed. In the sense that countries that don’t have enough of them descend into an economy of competing warlords.
  - nobodyandproud 3y ago
    It’s unusual to see a CEO and founder (no matter in what level of funding) advocate for a union, especially in tech and tech-adjacent industries.
    - CPLX 3y ago
      Hopefully less unusual every year.
      - explaininjs 3y ago
        I'm sure you have the best of intentions, but there is potential for a conflict of interest when the union is imposed form the top-down rather than the bottom-up, no?
        CPLX 3y ago
        There aren’t any unions imposed from the top down by definition. Members of management aren’t eligible to join unions.
        Wytwwww 3y ago
        Unless you're in Europe.
        kmeisthax 3y ago
        What you're referring to is called a "company union" and its explicitly illegal, at least in the US.

anonymouskimmer 3y ago

> My partner is in one and they've done nothing but screw her over at every twist and turn This may very well be true, but at least in my union our employer tells individual represented employees that they can't do X for the employee because of the union, without ever informing the union of the matter (which would have immediately given our okay to the matter), and despite there being no real block to X in our contract language anyway. It's a union-busting tactic.