5 ms·

Historic strike called off after Klarna agrees collective bargaining agreement

61 points by edward 3y ago

hnarn 3y ago
It always struck me as especially odd that Klarna, a Swedish company, would be so adamant to not follow the common practice of using CBAs in Sweden. At least Tesla, who has also been in local news for refusing, has the excuse that they don’t sign them anywhere (although this excuse has never worked before, Sweden isn’t exactly devoid of foreign companies). It’ll be interesting to see how this affects the Tesla bargaining.
- moogly 3y ago
  > It always struck me as especially odd that Klarna, a Swedish company, would be so adamant to not follow the common practice of using CBAs in Sweden Up until 2020, Klarna used to run its own debt collection under the innocuous name Segoria. There is a video recording[1] of one of the founders saying that "the best customer is a customer that does not pay directly, but actually gets a reminder, and also a debt collection letter". That should say something about the mentality of the people running this company. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZasUQuoCw2Q&t=1887s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZasUQuoCw2Q&t=1887s
  - livrem 3y ago
    I thought that was the business model of all companies handling payments (like Klarna)? It's not as if any of them ever sends out a reminder until it is too late. I can't understand how that can be legal, but that is what everyone does (at least here in Sweden).
    - moogly 3y ago
      The difference is that they ran their own (covert) debt collection agency, so they had an incentive for customers not to pay and double dipped.
rabbits_2002 3y ago
Is Klarna the one that tries to trick stupid people into getting a payment plan for concert tickets?
- dna_polymerase 3y ago
  Yes. Undoubtedly, everyone working there is on the wrong side of history.
  - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
    How so? The financially illiterate love Klarna. I know several people who use it.
    - thulle 3y ago
      Not sure if that's a good argument, my father loves the smell of diesel exhaust for some reason, doesn't make it right to try to coax 'em into breathing it.
    - bigbillheck 3y ago
      > The financially illiterate love Klarna You answered your own question.
    - kaycebasques 3y ago
      Poverty, By America talks about companies like Klarna briefly. Poor people in the US are systematically shut out of a lot of credit channels that the rest of us take for granted. Klarna steps in to fill the void. It's an OK deal if you can pay on time, but if not then the interest skyrockets and you get a mark on your credit report. > Economic security leads to better choices, not the other way around. > Financial literacy training doesn't do anything if you're only offered bad deals. If my assumption is correct that companies like Klarna are more commonly used by lower income people and we agree that poor people generally face a lot of exploitation, then it's super harsh to just write the users of these services off as "stupid people" or "finanically illiterate".
rightbyte 3y ago
Kinda anticlimactic. I really wanted the engineering union to initiate a strike for once ...
- moogly 3y ago
  Turns out it has never been the end of the world for these haughty companies to just sign a CBA. The people running them just revel in acting like assholes.
Zekio 3y ago
I've had klarna reserve money on my account for a month instead of charging it when choosing "pay now" and then 2 months later send me an invoice
tpmx 3y ago
(I'm Swedish.) I think a CBA could make sense for Klarna, but not necessarily for Spotify. Separately: A company with a CBA is a red flag to me. I think that CBAs and unions is what have kept tech salaries artificially low here, compared to e.g. US tech salaries.
- aaomidi 3y ago
  Where does the money in tech companies in Europe go? In the US, despite tech being one of the best paying working class jobs, the execs, shareholders etc make a significantly more amount of money than the workers. How much profit/revenue does the average engineer in Klarna bring vs, say square in the US?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - tpmx 3y ago
    Where do you think the money that doesn't go to salaries go? What an odd question.
    - aaomidi 3y ago
      I don’t know I’m literally asking? These European companies don’t seem particularly “rich”. Where is that money going? The class difference in Europe is also no where as bad as the US. Where is the money going?
- iamEAP 3y ago
  Would love to hear more from you on this. Why Klarna but not Spotify? If CBAs only put in place a salary floor, how are they keeping salaries low?
  - tpmx 3y ago
    a) eh, that's not a pleasant conversation, b) Yeah don't listen to sossepropaganda (that's a technical term).

61 points by edward 3y ago

It always struck me as especially odd that Klarna, a Swedish company, would be so adamant to not follow the common practice of using CBAs in Sweden. At least Tesla, who has also been in local news for refusing, has the excuse that they don’t sign them anywhere (although this excuse has never worked before, Sweden isn’t exactly devoid of foreign companies). It’ll be interesting to see how this affects the Tesla bargaining.

moogly 3y ago
> It always struck me as especially odd that Klarna, a Swedish company, would be so adamant to not follow the common practice of using CBAs in Sweden Up until 2020, Klarna used to run its own debt collection under the innocuous name Segoria. There is a video recording[1] of one of the founders saying that "the best customer is a customer that does not pay directly, but actually gets a reminder, and also a debt collection letter". That should say something about the mentality of the people running this company. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZasUQuoCw2Q&t=1887s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZasUQuoCw2Q&t=1887s
- livrem 3y ago
  I thought that was the business model of all companies handling payments (like Klarna)? It's not as if any of them ever sends out a reminder until it is too late. I can't understand how that can be legal, but that is what everyone does (at least here in Sweden).
  - moogly 3y ago
    The difference is that they ran their own (covert) debt collection agency, so they had an incentive for customers not to pay and double dipped.

rabbits_2002 3y ago

Is Klarna the one that tries to trick stupid people into getting a payment plan for concert tickets?

dna_polymerase 3y ago
Yes. Undoubtedly, everyone working there is on the wrong side of history.
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
  How so? The financially illiterate love Klarna. I know several people who use it.
  - thulle 3y ago
    Not sure if that's a good argument, my father loves the smell of diesel exhaust for some reason, doesn't make it right to try to coax 'em into breathing it.
  - bigbillheck 3y ago
    > The financially illiterate love Klarna You answered your own question.
  - kaycebasques 3y ago
    Poverty, By America talks about companies like Klarna briefly. Poor people in the US are systematically shut out of a lot of credit channels that the rest of us take for granted. Klarna steps in to fill the void. It's an OK deal if you can pay on time, but if not then the interest skyrockets and you get a mark on your credit report. > Economic security leads to better choices, not the other way around. > Financial literacy training doesn't do anything if you're only offered bad deals. If my assumption is correct that companies like Klarna are more commonly used by lower income people and we agree that poor people generally face a lot of exploitation, then it's super harsh to just write the users of these services off as "stupid people" or "finanically illiterate".

rightbyte 3y ago

Kinda anticlimactic. I really wanted the engineering union to initiate a strike for once ...

moogly 3y ago
Turns out it has never been the end of the world for these haughty companies to just sign a CBA. The people running them just revel in acting like assholes.

Zekio 3y ago

I've had klarna reserve money on my account for a month instead of charging it when choosing "pay now" and then 2 months later send me an invoice

tpmx 3y ago

(I'm Swedish.) I think a CBA could make sense for Klarna, but not necessarily for Spotify. Separately: A company with a CBA is a red flag to me. I think that CBAs and unions is what have kept tech salaries artificially low here, compared to e.g. US tech salaries.

aaomidi 3y ago
Where does the money in tech companies in Europe go? In the US, despite tech being one of the best paying working class jobs, the execs, shareholders etc make a significantly more amount of money than the workers. How much profit/revenue does the average engineer in Klarna bring vs, say square in the US?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- tpmx 3y ago
  Where do you think the money that doesn't go to salaries go? What an odd question.
  - aaomidi 3y ago
    I don’t know I’m literally asking? These European companies don’t seem particularly “rich”. Where is that money going? The class difference in Europe is also no where as bad as the US. Where is the money going?
iamEAP 3y ago
Would love to hear more from you on this. Why Klarna but not Spotify? If CBAs only put in place a salary floor, how are they keeping salaries low?
- tpmx 3y ago
  a) eh, that's not a pleasant conversation, b) Yeah don't listen to sossepropaganda (that's a technical term).