3 ms·

I'd be particularly interested in cases where unionization led to better products and processes. Like in a world where management just wanted to ship everything

I'd be particularly interested in cases where unionization led to better products and processes. Like in a world where management just wanted to ship everything half baked, the union gave the workforce the voice required to insist on accurate and up to date documentation, comprehensive testing, proper dependency tracking and security practices, etc. I feel like almost everyone I talk to in tech says that behind the scenes, their company's development workflow is a nightmare, so this doesn't appear to be a problem that's fixing itself under market pressures.

echelon 2y ago
We don't need software unions. We need to break up big tech. Software companies should be able to hire and fire. We often need to have 24/7 oncall. Needs are flexible. Startups must be nimble. It's the tech giants that are ruining it for everyone. They're preventing new centicorns from forming. They're forcing underpriced M&A for successes, moving into markets with infinite money and killing upstarts before they find legs. They own every platform, every discovery mechanism, and they tax more than governments do. Big tech recently figured out they could pay off everyone and put pricing pressure back on the engineers that built their market position. Previously they were worried engineers could leave and start upstart competitors. That's why they hired everyone and paid top of band salaries. Now that they realize there is no governmental antitrust legislation to fear, they just crush everything. They're in search of infinite growth, so they move into new markets like Hollywood movies and primary care doctors and undercut everyone. They market themselves for free at the top of their websites and app stores (or print giant ads on their delivery trucks and cardboard packaging). Things that would cost competitors hundreds of millions of dollars to do. The problem is 100% big tech. We need to break up big tech.
- FridgeSeal 2y ago
  Por que no los dos?? > Software companies should be able to hire and fire. Almost every company in every industry makes this dubious claim. Then we rediscover the benefits of team knowledge and stability. > We often need to have 24/7 oncall This feels completely orthogonal to the discussion at hand, nobody is claiming that a union will somehow make doing on-call impossible. Many other professions that do have unions, have an on-call analog.

echelon 2y ago

We don't need software unions. We need to break up big tech. Software companies should be able to hire and fire. We often need to have 24/7 oncall. Needs are flexible. Startups must be nimble. It's the tech giants that are ruining it for everyone. They're preventing new centicorns from forming. They're forcing underpriced M&A for successes, moving into markets with infinite money and killing upstarts before they find legs. They own every platform, every discovery mechanism, and they tax more than governments do. Big tech recently figured out they could pay off everyone and put pricing pressure back on the engineers that built their market position. Previously they were worried engineers could leave and start upstart competitors. That's why they hired everyone and paid top of band salaries. Now that they realize there is no governmental antitrust legislation to fear, they just crush everything. They're in search of infinite growth, so they move into new markets like Hollywood movies and primary care doctors and undercut everyone. They market themselves for free at the top of their websites and app stores (or print giant ads on their delivery trucks and cardboard packaging). Things that would cost competitors hundreds of millions of dollars to do. The problem is 100% big tech. We need to break up big tech.

FridgeSeal 2y ago
Por que no los dos?? > Software companies should be able to hire and fire. Almost every company in every industry makes this dubious claim. Then we rediscover the benefits of team knowledge and stability. > We often need to have 24/7 oncall This feels completely orthogonal to the discussion at hand, nobody is claiming that a union will somehow make doing on-call impossible. Many other professions that do have unions, have an on-call analog.