4 ms·
> but forming a run-of-the-mill labor union would almost certainly lower SWE salaries and benefits across the sector in the end. How would that work? Wouldn't
by JeffSnazz 3y ago
> but forming a run-of-the-mill labor union would almost certainly lower SWE salaries and benefits across the sector in the end.
How would that work? Wouldn't reasoning about incentives here point in exactly the opposite direction? Not to toot our own horn too deeply, but while a SWE might be fungible, we're in a line of work that's difficult to scab through. Google really doesn't have much leverage over their employees compared to other labor conflicts I've read about throughout history....
- Exoristos 3y agoSWEs are overcompensated, and offering big companies a single lever (the leadership of a sector-wide labor union) to push against all of us would be only too handy for them; negotiations would have nowhere to go but down.
- JeffSnazz 3y agoSWEs are overcompensated? How do you figure? The revenue figures per-engineer tell the exact opposite story. > the leadership of a sector-wide labor union) to push against all of us would be only too handy for them; negotiations would have nowhere to go but down. I literally cannot follow this train of thought—surely, having a single collective negotiator is the only way to prevent this exact scenario. Regardless, you seem to be conflating regular unions with trade unions. They're different, they serve different roles—arguably, I think we need trade unions far more than regular ones if we want to do anything useful as a country in the next few decades—but in all situations having a single-negotiator is the only way to stop engineers from being pitted against each other.
- bsdpufferfish 3y ago> I literally cannot follow this train of thought Can you point to a single union that operates this way for highly compensated professionals? Unions discourage performance based compensation and measurement in favor of credentials and seniority.