"don't be evil"
Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
31–40 of 229 posts
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Live and let live, right? Some people are leery about the possibility of their employer turning into a closed shop. I know I would not be happy if my employer suddenly turned into a union shop in a way that strongly affected me and gave me minimal choice in the matter. I only ask that you consider why people might choose to sit on the sidelines.
Based on my experience, people sit on the sidelines because they're comfortable. People advocating for change should be polite first, and then not polite if politeness fails.
Is it at all possible, in any scenario, that people might have other reasons than purely personal comfort for sitting out a particular push for change?
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm not sure it makes sense for the software industry. Why not? Such a vague claim needs substantiation.
It will likely stifle my salary, and the salaries of a lot of high earning swes. Or not. Curious what others think.
Since when did unions stifle salaries? They generally get higher salaries for their employees, no? Isn't the typical complaint about union workers that they're "overpaid"?
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Based on my experience, people sit on the sidelines because they're comfortable. People advocating for change should be polite first, and then not polite if politeness fails.
Is it at all possible, in any scenario, that people might have other reasons than purely personal comfort for sitting out a particular push for change?
It is possible, and I am receptive to enumeration of those reasons. One must be able to entertain both sides of an argument. Selfishly, it would help me strengthen my own argument.
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#35Call me a cynic, but Europe isn't the USA.
There are a lot of countries in EU which have, IMO, better work culture and fairness of negotiation as the guiding philosophies behind the work.
If Google did this in the USA, it wouldn't be seen as much. However, they have strong laws against this in EU, and this incident would not portray Google in favorable light, IMO.
I also feel that it is high time engineers realized that fairness in work is something we'd all love to have, and historically, skilled people have kept unions to ensure that they don't get screwed over.
I believe that at the end of the day, if you need fairness in negotiation, you need to have a way to express it, especially if it isn't supply driven.
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm not sure it makes sense for the software industry. Why not? Such a vague claim needs substantiation.
It will likely stifle my salary, and the salaries of a lot of high earning swes. Or not. Curious what others think.
Why would it though? In every other industry, union workers make much more than non-union workers. And unions don't seem to drag the salaries of other high earners (actors, screenwriters) down.
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#37I'm a SWE at Google, and as much as I love unions, I'm not sure it makes sense for the software industry. Further, the larger tech companies already have a concept of "levels" to ensure some sense of pay equality, we already get better benefits than you can get anywhere else in the states. Realistically, what more will unions accomplish at a place like Google? I'd love 6 weeks of paid vacation as much as anyone. I do…
Eight days ago on Hacker News: Yup. Happened to me. Big corporate decided most of our floor were surplus to requirements. Got an email on Sunday telling us to be in early on Monday for an off-site meeting. Got handed my redundancy / compromise agreement and told not to return to the office. And, the kicker, told my non-compete meant I couldn't work for a competitor during the redundancy process. It was devastating an…
thank you for posting this. it's a point worth realizing.
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#38> In the email, Google said it was canceling the meeting because the company prefers to only host events on the topic organized in partnership with Google’s site leadership team. So this was a meeting organized solely by employees, using company property, on the company campus, on a workday, with the only speakers allowed being the union reps? I’m not surprised management would try to cancel that, it sounds like a pr…
> pro-union propaganda party Typically you just say "organizing".
This should not be grayed, but HN is full of bootlickers.
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#39I'm a SWE at Google, and as much as I love unions, I'm not sure it makes sense for the software industry. Further, the larger tech companies already have a concept of "levels" to ensure some sense of pay equality, we already get better benefits than you can get anywhere else in the states. Realistically, what more will unions accomplish at a place like Google? I'd love 6 weeks of paid vacation as much as anyone. I do…
Eight days ago on Hacker News: Yup. Happened to me. Big corporate decided most of our floor were surplus to requirements. Got an email on Sunday telling us to be in early on Monday for an off-site meeting. Got handed my redundancy / compromise agreement and told not to return to the office. And, the kicker, told my non-compete meant I couldn't work for a competitor during the redundancy process. It was devastating an…
> That layoff was the best thing to happen to me. Shook me out of my cosy job, forced me into building my own consultancy, and taught me the power of solidarity.
This last part sounds like an argument against unions. One wonders, had the commenter worked in an environment where layoffs/firings aren't worth it due to externalities (and therefore never really happen), whether they'd rethink.
Re: Google attempted to shut down a unionization meeting in Zurich
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm not sure it makes sense for the software industry. Why not? Such a vague claim needs substantiation.
It will likely stifle my salary, and the salaries of a lot of high earning swes. Or not. Curious what others think.
The usual counterexamples are sports player and actors' unions. Even in less glamorous areas, union doesn't always equal salary cap or salary bands or whatever. Usually their main concerns are setting a pay floor and stopping abuse / forcing humane treatment.