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Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

currentaffairs.org

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Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#21

Post by fargle »

baron816 wrote: post #17
SomeOtherThrow wrote: post #14

The lack of unions in the industry is making me leave. It’s going to leave out many of its current employees to dry: I want something better than the word of an entrepreneur.

If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees. I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and makin…

Amen to that. Engineering is unique in that both experience and talent is required, and is valued. IMHO, that plus competition is enough security for me. I don't need another layer of bureaucracy "helping" me be less productive. By raising barriers to entrance, barriers to change, and by protecting the entrenched a union would totally devalue my worth.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#22

Post by cwyers »

tanderson92 wrote: post #13
tptacek wrote: post #5

Current Affairs can be a fun read (Nathan Robinson, who is an extremely weird dude, writes long-long-long-form takedowns of right-wing figures). But it's also an outlet with a very clear political perspective ("workers should own the means of production" would be a reasonable first approximation; "Elizabeth Warren is dangerously conservative" is an illustrative claim), so bear that in mind as you read.

Could you possibly elaborate on why you feel Nathan Robinson is an extremely weird dude? I only know about him from his writing in Current Affairs (and famously his take-downs).

https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/people/nathan-robinson

“He is also the author of _The Man Who Accidentally Wore His Cravat to a Gymnasium_, a children's book about fashion and conformity.“

And he speaks with a British accent but grew up in the US.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#23

Post by baron816 »

CPLX wrote: post #18
baron816 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees. I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and makin…

You’re aware that the major professional sports in the US are unionized right? Do you think the competition for talent for them is more or less fierce than it is for you?

That’s the worst example you could’ve used. Pro sports leagues are monopolies with a large percentage of potential players/workers being left out of the market.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#24

Post by songerik »

baron816 wrote: post #17
SomeOtherThrow wrote: post #14

The lack of unions in the industry is making me leave. It’s going to leave out many of its current employees to dry: I want something better than the word of an entrepreneur.

If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees. I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and makin…

It seems pretty shallow to pin the qualities of an unhealthy union on all unions. Some unions are great, others are not, and healthy unions only require one simple ingredient: maintenance and attention, like most things.

Unions are just an avenue for bargaining. In my experience, which has only been in a healthy union with people who take an interest in the value it provides, it has been so liberating! It encourages us to discuss things in the open that would have always been closed-door conversations before, and I never worry about whether I am being taken advantage of. I honestly don’t even make much money for a software engineer, but I love the domain I work in and having the union has made my work relationships just feel less exploitative. It feels less like work.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#25

Post by eropple »

baron816 wrote: post #23
CPLX wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re aware that the major professional sports in the US are unionized right? Do you think the competition for talent for them is more or less fierce than it is for you?

That’s the worst example you could’ve used. Pro sports leagues are monopolies with a large percentage of potential players/workers being left out of the market.

Only MLB is a monopoly.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#26

Post by tptacek »

cwyers wrote: post #22
tanderson92 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you possibly elaborate on why you feel Nathan Robinson is an extremely weird dude? I only know about him from his writing in Current Affairs (and famously his take-downs).

https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/people/nathan-robinson “He is also the author of _The Man Who Accidentally Wore His Cravat to a Gymnasium_, a children's book about fashion and conformity.“ And he speaks with a British accent but grew up in the US.

Amusingly, in his takedown of Elizabeth Warren, he equates time spent at Harvard to time spent working for Chevron. Just, weird dude.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#27

Post by laurencerowe »

barry-cotter wrote: post #12
thinkingkong wrote: post #4

Are there any fields similar to software development where there are unions? And if so how is that actually working?

It works great for the Screen Actor’s Guild and the rest of the film industry. They set minimum wages and use their market power to radically restrict entry so that there’s less competition from outsiders, by not working with firms that employ non-members and expelling members that do. Any Software Professionals Guild could do the same, reduce the supply of competitors and punish people who employed any entry level w…

"According to the most recent SAG statistics, the average member earns $52,000 a year, while the vast majority take home less than $1,000 a year from acting jobs." - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-salaries-re... [2014]

This doesn't sound very similar to the market for Software Engineers where there is a shortage of skilled labour.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#28

Post by Ericson2314 »

CPLX wrote: post #18
baron816 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees. I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and makin…

You’re aware that the major professional sports in the US are unionized right? Do you think the competition for talent for them is more or less fierce than it is for you?

Yeah, the they idea the unions are just for "fungible loosers" is worse than wrong.

Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance

#30

Post by songerik »

thinkingkong wrote: post #4

Are there any fields similar to software development where there are unions? And if so how is that actually working?

The film industry is the best example of why the software industry should be unionized.

A critical purpose of film industry unions is taking a responsibility for their talent. The software industry hiring practices need this very bad.

With the film industry, it is hard to get into the unions. It takes a lot of work and networking, and proving one’s self worthy, but considering the hiring hell that the software industry is experiencing, the film industry union structure would be a blessing.

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