Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not crazy in a civilized country. They're not slaves, you know..?
But the people paying them are slaves, and can be forced to continue paying them for nothing?
They aren't usually paid during the strike.
Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
301–310 of 339 posts
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe 'not all unions' but several very large unions are responsible for some massive, fundamental problems we have today. E.g., cities are going bankrupt in large part tied to unions. I don't think it counts as FUD; even if 'not all unions', I think we have identified issues with the union structure that no one knows yet how to resolve, that will come back if unions come back. It's like trying to argue 'not all cops…
> E.g., cities are going bankrupt in large part tied to unions. That's simply a libertarian + right-wing claim.
How do you interpret cities going bankrupt due to collosal unfunded pension obligations? It takes two to tango- the city is party, but so is the union.
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
What a whole bunch of inaccuracies. I have no time to waste rebutting all the multiple falsehoods in this post, but I want people living in other countries know that it is filled with inaccuracies and plain falsehoods.
You are FUDding. I'm an Italian living in Italy, and I 100% agree with the parent comment. Also, I'd add that most members of Italian national unions are retired people, so unions mostly care about pensions,ending being often in contrast with younger workers interests (for instance, keeping retirement age low, even if it's one of the lowest in the EU). One must also consider that there's a strong divide between union…
Do you feel Italy is a model of productivity thanks to union involvement?
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#304Earlier quoted context omitted.
> £55k isn't that well paid for people who have to live in or near London It's more than the typical software engineer can expect to make in London. Source: Glassdoor, Indeed, talking to colleagues who live in London, and my own memories from my last job search.
And why should a software engineer in a comfy desk job be entitled to a higher wage then a tube worker? All the software engineers in London could quit tomorrow, and life would largely go on. All the tube workers could quit tomorrow, and the city would quickly grind to a halt.
Possibly because becoming a software engineer often takes years of schooling, requires a level of aptitude that puts it out of reach for many people, and then requires continuous additional effort to keep up with the field. If this sort of thing is not compensated for more highly than low skill jobs, much fewer people would do it. Of course this argument breaks down if being a tube driver takes as much intelligence, motivation, and education as a software engineer. I don't have experience in that field. But it does seem to me that if you hired a team of software engineers for a few years you could develop a system that would not require tube drivers to exist at all. Then the city wouldn't have to worry about grinding to a halt if anyone quits.
But basically having higher wages for jobs that are harder to fill, or are more important to have highly qualified people in them, seems to be a system that works pretty well. Paying everyone the same wage seems to be a system that has largely failed anywhere it has been tried.
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think union membership rates have been dropping due to the fact that companies have been increasinly more anti union. Contrary to popular belief, companies have incredibly little power in that regard, especially when you're talking about an already-unionized closed shop (as opposed to a company that wants to prevent its workers from unionizing in the first place). Legally and practically, it's incredibly difficul…
> union members overwhelmingly voted for Republicans in the last two election cycles There's a lot that's skewed in your comments, but that's just flat out wrong. Union households voted for Clinton over Trump by 8%. That's less than Democrats often get, but the idea that union members prefer Republicans is divorced from reality.
That is one race, and one that isn't particularly relevant to Union interests in contrast to local elections. What are the numbers on the other hundreds of races?
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#306Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because American retailers fare so much better these days and it's clearly powering the US economy[0]. Because preventing small retailer from being starved by big chains is what's sinking the french economy. Because clearly I can tell from your comment that you spent a lot of time investigating these regulations and their impact on the french economy. I'm so thankful that you live in the US. [0] https://www.nytimes.c…
Small stores and local retail are dying out due to the cheapness, convenience, and selection of online retail. As a consumer, the online stores are more convenient and save me money. If a local store can't offer anything preferable to some faceless multinational, what is it really doing other than giving some of my money to someone who doesn't add any value?
>Small stores and local retail are dying out due to the cheapness, convenience, and selection of online retail
Maybe you are stuck in the US car culture, but it is very convenient to have a store on the way home from the subway/bus stop.
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#307Now that's something I haven't heard about in the US for a few decades: strikes. I'm partly kidding, but have there been any major strikes in the US lately?
Yes. There was a major strike of screenwriters in 2008. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–08_Writers_Guild_of_Ame...
That strike led to the rise of reality TV. Which led to some people becoming reality TV celebrities. Which led to one of them running for president of the U.S.
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Union members are actually disproportionately likely to support things like right-to-work laws, which unions dislike because it (more or less) means workers aren't obligated to be members if they choose not to. Right-to-work laws are like prop 13 in California: sounds good on the surface, but hidden terrible impact. On the surface, "I should be able to choose whether or not I join a union" makes sense, Americans lo…
I absolutely agree free riders are a problem with unions. But that doesn't mean right to work laws shouldn't exist. Maybe it just means unions shouldn't exist. I mean, if your entire business model is flawed, should the world change around your business model? This is more of a devil's advocate position, as I'm not particularly anti-union, but I personally have zero desire to work in a union or be forced to be in one…
If corporations are allowed to have exclusivity contracts with other corporations, why shouldn't they also be able to have exclusivity contracts with unions?
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#309Earlier quoted context omitted.
OTOH, they have worse health prospects than most software engineers and they mostly have contractual requirements to live within x miles of the depot they're based out of.
Serious consideration is being given to driverless cars so why not similarly upgrade all trains for situations far less demanding than public roads?
It's rolling in slowly. Many London lines are automated. Trains in Singapore are all automated and rarely ever have drivers. London will get to that point after they replace the existing train stock.
Driverless cars can't match the volume of trains:
http://penguindreams.org/blog/self-driving-cars-will-not-sol...
Re: Workers at Amazon's main Italian hub, German warehouses strike on Black Friday
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unions and expensive pensions contributed significantly to the bankruptcy of General Motors. If not for a government bail out we'd barely have an American auto industry.
Why aren't any of GM's competitors with US factories bankrupt?
Chrysler had the same problem, and Fiat's acquisition was their savour.
Ford's financials were better at the time (lots of strong European subsidiaries) and they managed to tough it out.
Toyota, Honda, etc don't have the same union in their US factories.