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Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
51–60 of 110 posts
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#52This may not be the venue to get good answers but what are the likely costs of unionization in software? How would management respond to organized tech labor? What would be the economic impacts? Not looking for pro- or anti-union sloganeering, but real impacts. The economics of the tech sector would change dramatically with organized labor in computing, and I'm interested in how those changes would manifest.
You'd be paying union dues for one thing. I have to imagine there would be a lot of in-fighting between those looking to restrict the number of H1-Bs, etc., and those supporting them.
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#53Unions were great at stifling innovation and destroying some of our former industries such as Steel and Automotive - see what's left of former very wealthy Detroit. The classic example is the unions not allowing the Toyota Lean Production system in, as then you would need fewer workers. So in not allowing innovation, the unions were key factors in destroying entire industries which have now been built elsewhere. If t…
Ya, look how they destroyed the steel industry in Germany. Oh wait, it's thriving
1950 = 1000 thousand tonnes, 2018 = 4000 thousand tonnes
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s funny that you consider China freer than America. It shows that what you mean by freedom isn’t really freedom.
Where did he say that? Was there an edit?
Which parts of the world do you think he’s talking about that are stealing industries from the US?
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#55This may not be the venue to get good answers but what are the likely costs of unionization in software? How would management respond to organized tech labor? What would be the economic impacts? Not looking for pro- or anti-union sloganeering, but real impacts. The economics of the tech sector would change dramatically with organized labor in computing, and I'm interested in how those changes would manifest.
I wonder how unionized labor would interact with US visas. If you're on an H-1b and your union goes on strike.....do you have to leave the country?
I think part of the union dues would go towards lobbying efforts aimed at restricting the number of H-1bs in the first place to help drive up wages.
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#56He mentions the impact of globalization, but I think that it's a much bigger deal than he makes of it. For work that can easily be offshored (manufacturing, software dev, phone/online support, creative work, etc.) the obvious corporate response to unionization it to move shop. OTOH, for professions that can't easily be offshored (medical, local services such as fire/police/utilities, education, etc.), many are still…
> Some of the unions are non-traditional - for instance, the AMA (American Medical Association) effectively serves a role as a Doctors' union even though they don't advertise themselves as such. They control training into the profession, they are the sole arbiter of who can practice the profession, and they generally work to suppress supply below the level of demand (and therefore drive up wages).
None of this is true.
The AMA does not control training in the medical profession. That's determined by the number of residency positions available, which is capped by the AAMC, not the AMA. However, removing the cap wouldn't increase the number of positions, because those are funded by Medicare. The AMA does not control who can practice the profession either; only 25% of practicing physicians even belong to the AMA.
(The AMA is also not a union because it does not invoke a monopoly claim over the members of a bargaining unit, which is something that basically every union in the US does - and conversely, something which basically no unions outside the US claim - but that's all a separate matter).
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#57The title "Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class" does the topic a great injustice, obfuscating the origins of many modern labor unions (including the AFL-CIO) as functional white supremacist organizations. If you were Chinese or Indian, unions were directly responsible for your deportation. If you were Japanese, unions were directly responsible for your family's forced internment. If you were Puerto…
Yes there are those issues but I suspect you are not not 100% commenting in good faith here.
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#58The title "Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class" does the topic a great injustice, obfuscating the origins of many modern labor unions (including the AFL-CIO) as functional white supremacist organizations. If you were Chinese or Indian, unions were directly responsible for your deportation. If you were Japanese, unions were directly responsible for your family's forced internment. If you were Puerto…
Yes there are those issues but I suspect you are not not 100% commenting in good faith here.
> Yes there are those issues but I suspect you are not not 100% commenting in good faith here.
I don't even know what this accusation is supposed to mean. Could you spell out what "bad faith" you are imputing here?
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#59The title "Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class" does the topic a great injustice, obfuscating the origins of many modern labor unions (including the AFL-CIO) as functional white supremacist organizations. If you were Chinese or Indian, unions were directly responsible for your deportation. If you were Japanese, unions were directly responsible for your family's forced internment. If you were Puerto…
Not sure why downvoted. While I object to "everything I don't like is racist" bullshit, this one is actually true--unions are not only xenophibic, by misogynistic. The union my Dad was a member of bragged about how it ran women out, usually via overt sexual harassment.
Everyone thinks unions are some great system but they suck in actual practice. The absolutely suck--it's just more egos and personalities in the way of you making a living. The best thing about tech is the low barriers to entry--that is populist, not unions. If you are good you succeed, if you are not good, you become an architect or a manager or leave.
Re: Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class
#60The title "Unions Did Great Things for the American Working Class" does the topic a great injustice, obfuscating the origins of many modern labor unions (including the AFL-CIO) as functional white supremacist organizations. If you were Chinese or Indian, unions were directly responsible for your deportation. If you were Japanese, unions were directly responsible for your family's forced internment. If you were Puerto…
Not sure why downvoted. While I object to "everything I don't like is racist" bullshit, this one is actually true--unions are not only xenophibic, by misogynistic. The union my Dad was a member of bragged about how it ran women out, usually via overt sexual harassment. Everyone thinks unions are some great system but they suck in actual practice. The absolutely suck--it's just more egos and personalities in the way o…
> . The union my Dad was a member of bragged about how it ran women out, usually via overt sexual harassment.
Yeah, the AFL-CIO didn't allow women to join either. Sexual harassment is a huge problem within unions, because harassers (as members, and oftentimes members with power within the union) are able to use their power to silence victims' complaints. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/19/us/ford-chica...