Anti-union activity is heating up ahead of Google contractor's vote to unionize

Post by whenanother » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:24 PM UTC

privateSFacct wrote: post #203

stjohnswarts wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On average unions work better for the most people. People on the upper end will not stop contributing or trying, people on the lower end don't matter much anyway. It's the middle that provides most of the advancement.

At least two other data points - I have a friend who worked in a govt agency - doing cool and important work - she left because of the unfirable lifers - while the stories are funny you can’t go to work and perform well in that situation. In high school teacher X was notorious for giving no work and no s*its. He missed lots of his classes so always subs. We thought it was cool (usually easy A). He was there years but…

Post by ilikehurdles » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:28 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #82

claudeganon wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it has to be framed against the baseline of pervasive anti-union ideology in the US. When people have been inculcated all their lives with the idea that labor organizing is bad, they’re all just temporarily embarrassed corporate execs, it doesn’t take too much to push them back towards this baseline. Or at least enough to quash the union.

I’ve spent 30 years in the US, many of those in red states, and I’ve heard the “temporarily embarrassed millionaire” canard way more often than I’ve heard anti-union rhetoric. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anti- (private sector) union rhetoric. Have you considered that maybe peoples’ reactions are based on bad experiences with unions? In particular, public sector unions. Even liberal areas are pretty anti-uni…

Post by oh_sigh » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:33 PM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #288

username90 wrote: post #285

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> they shouldn't receive any benefits established through collective bargaining agreements. Why not? I can just demand that my contract looks the same as the unions, anything wrong with that?

You can demand all you want, and your manager can respond with 'LOL no you're not worth that much'.

Post by lawnchair_larry » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:42 PM UTC

stale2002 wrote: post #195

tyri_kai_psomi wrote: post #128

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We have a contract with the USPS IT department and let me tell you, it is absolutely awesome for their employees. They do about half the work we do in twice the amount of time, get paid more, have more holidays (2 weeks + every single federal holiday) and have pensions. Every worker there clocks in at 9, and clocks out at exactly 5, not a single minute past. If you want a meeting or them to get you something, it need…

> Every worker there clocks in at 9, and clocks out at exactly 5 LUL! Those are amateur numbers, buddy. I do 11-6 maybe , and work at a big 5 tech company making big 5 tech company salaries. And frankly, we aren't working a lot of the time during the day either. And yes, we have the "unlimited" vacation, which usually results in people taking about 4 weeks a year, on average. I think people underestimate how easy it…

Post by tomohawk » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:56 PM UTC

rdiddly wrote: post #28

I always wonder about these ham-handed anti-union efforts. I assume they must work to some degree, or they wouldn't do it. But it seems like the sudden escalation of anti-union arguments would only end up working in favor of the union. Because it betrays how against it they are. It confirms that yes, this union will have an effect, and not in management's favor. Like "Clearly we're onto something here if they oppose…