3 ms·

We need a union.

by robotkilla 12y ago

We need a union.

falcolas 12y ago
It will not happen anytime soon. For one, (speaking as an American) unions are sneered at as a waste of resources by your average citizen. This leads to the second problem: there will always be a pretty decent sized group who do not believe in unions, meaning companies will have a choice in who to hire. It's usually not in a corporation's best interest to hire a unionized worker, at least not a corporation which views "profit" as their primary goal.
- robotkilla 12y ago
  well, speaking as an american from the midwest, unions are usually sneered at as a waste of resources by people who have to pay for union workers. We need to make sure that we aren't getting taken advantage of by our employers (examples: shitty pay, terrible work environments, bad equipment, conspiracies to lower wages), aren't implementing poor practices (things like backdoors for the government), and aren't subject to things like sexism, racism, ageism (as you age and learn more and get better at what you do, its going to be harder to get a job - does that seem fair?). I'd prefer to be part of a tech union that helped ensure my safety in these areas. admittedly i don't know enough about unions to know how the current structure would benefit our industry, but we need something similar at least.
- gaius 12y ago
  Call it a "guild" and everyone will join!
Terr_ 12y ago
Unions are suitable for measurable and substitutable tasks, but most programming is actually custom work. Show me a unionizeable programming job and I'll show you something that's about to be replaced with a library or shrink-wrap app. A comparison to law/medicine is more appropriate.
- robotkilla 12y ago
  > A comparison to law/medicine is more appropriate. Which are both regulated and treated completely differently than the tech industry. I speak of unions because the way we are treated (not the level of skill) is more akin to a construction worker.

3 ms·

We need a union.

by robotkilla 12y ago

We need a union.

falcolas 12y ago
It will not happen anytime soon. For one, (speaking as an American) unions are sneered at as a waste of resources by your average citizen. This leads to the second problem: there will always be a pretty decent sized group who do not believe in unions, meaning companies will have a choice in who to hire. It's usually not in a corporation's best interest to hire a unionized worker, at least not a corporation which views "profit" as their primary goal.
- robotkilla 12y ago
  well, speaking as an american from the midwest, unions are usually sneered at as a waste of resources by people who have to pay for union workers. We need to make sure that we aren't getting taken advantage of by our employers (examples: shitty pay, terrible work environments, bad equipment, conspiracies to lower wages), aren't implementing poor practices (things like backdoors for the government), and aren't subject to things like sexism, racism, ageism (as you age and learn more and get better at what you do, its going to be harder to get a job - does that seem fair?). I'd prefer to be part of a tech union that helped ensure my safety in these areas. admittedly i don't know enough about unions to know how the current structure would benefit our industry, but we need something similar at least.
- gaius 12y ago
  Call it a "guild" and everyone will join!
Terr_ 12y ago
Unions are suitable for measurable and substitutable tasks, but most programming is actually custom work. Show me a unionizeable programming job and I'll show you something that's about to be replaced with a library or shrink-wrap app. A comparison to law/medicine is more appropriate.
- robotkilla 12y ago
  > A comparison to law/medicine is more appropriate. Which are both regulated and treated completely differently than the tech industry. I speak of unions because the way we are treated (not the level of skill) is more akin to a construction worker.