3 ms·

Sometimes I wonder if you framed it differently would it be more appealing to tech workers. Like if there was a startup that negotiates on behalf of employees f

Sometimes I wonder if you framed it differently would it be more appealing to tech workers. Like if there was a startup that negotiates on behalf of employees for salary, benefits, remote vs in-office, etc. using collective influence as more people from a particular company used it. Or to put it another way, how much of the distaste for unions is wrapped up in the term “union”?

glial 2y ago
> if there was a startup that negotiates on behalf of employees for salary, benefits, remote vs in-office, etc. using collective influence as more people from a particular company used it. I...love this idea. And end-users could pay them dues, excuse me, fees for the service.
Manuel_D 2y ago
There's more to a union than just negotiating on behalf of employees. Unions have quasi-government status wherein the National Labor Relations Bureau can just step in and force the company to make business decisions. Furthermore, unions aren't optional in a lot of states. If you want to work a certain job at a company, you have no choice but to join the union (or at least pay union dues). Something like the National Press Photographer's Association [1] is a valuable organization. They provide resources like contract templates, and can help if a customer doesn't pay the agreed royalties and whatnot. But membership isn't mandatory. A software developer's association and a software developer's unions would be to vastly different groups. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Press_Photographers_Association https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Press_Photographers_A...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
erik_seaberg 2y ago
Only with market discipline, by making that company compete with others representing pools of workers. A union chooses not to do that.
Ferret7446 2y ago
You'd need a free market of competing startups which workers could freely switch between or choose to not use, which is antithetical to the very concept of a union.

glial 2y ago

> if there was a startup that negotiates on behalf of employees for salary, benefits, remote vs in-office, etc. using collective influence as more people from a particular company used it. I...love this idea. And end-users could pay them dues, excuse me, fees for the service.

Manuel_D 2y ago

There's more to a union than just negotiating on behalf of employees. Unions have quasi-government status wherein the National Labor Relations Bureau can just step in and force the company to make business decisions. Furthermore, unions aren't optional in a lot of states. If you want to work a certain job at a company, you have no choice but to join the union (or at least pay union dues). Something like the National Press Photographer's Association [1] is a valuable organization. They provide resources like contract templates, and can help if a customer doesn't pay the agreed royalties and whatnot. But membership isn't mandatory. A software developer's association and a software developer's unions would be to vastly different groups. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Press_Photographers_Association https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Press_Photographers_A...

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

erik_seaberg 2y ago

Only with market discipline, by making that company compete with others representing pools of workers. A union chooses not to do that.

Ferret7446 2y ago

You'd need a free market of competing startups which workers could freely switch between or choose to not use, which is antithetical to the very concept of a union.