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Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

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Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#21

Post by pmoriarty »

greatscott404 wrote: post #3

The only reason labor unions are legal is that certain unions have outsized political clout, in a perfect world labor unions would be illegal under antitrust laws as forcing companies to pay workers more than what a free market dictates inevitably increases prices.

"forcing companies to pay workers more than what a free market dictates inevitable increases prices"

Does it inevitably increase prices, or could its millionaire/billionaire execs just maybe own a few less private jets and McMansions?

Anyway, even if prices were increased, what's wrong with a market in which all participants earned a living wage?

Or are the absolute minimum prices that markets can bear something we should be striving for even if it means those at the bottom can barely survive?

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#22

Post by shantly »

jayd16 wrote: post #16
nbp160130 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. We should repeal the minimum wage and the 13th amendment so no corporation should ever have to pay more than what a free market dictates.

Don't forget child labor. The market demands child labor.

I daily chafe under the yoke of a government that restricts my right to sell myself into slavery. And they enforce that onerous infringement of my rights, ultimately, by threat of violence! Which clearly makes government the slavers, actually, the same way taxation makes them identical to muggers.

(/s, in case it's not clear)

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#23

Post by quotemstr »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #13
greatscott404 wrote: post #3

The only reason labor unions are legal is that certain unions have outsized political clout, in a perfect world labor unions would be illegal under antitrust laws as forcing companies to pay workers more than what a free market dictates inevitably increases prices.

Interesting account. Created 15 days ago, negative rep, and every comments are on the same nature: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=greatscott404

Market-based opposition to unionization is a perfectly reasonable and very common opinion. Looking at how our industry treats people who express this opinion, though, I don't blame the OP for using an alt. Our industry really needs to work on tolerating a wider band of worldviews.

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#24

Post by freeopinion »

Imagine a gigantic apartment building in San Francisco. Let's say some 400-unit monster. Then picture a campus with four of those buildings.

Then realize that such a campus could not house all the Google employees in the area. Then realize that such a campus could not house just the Google cafeteria workers in the area.

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#25

Post by baddox »

alexpetralia wrote: post #7
greatscott404 wrote: post #3

The only reason labor unions are legal is that certain unions have outsized political clout, in a perfect world labor unions would be illegal under antitrust laws as forcing companies to pay workers more than what a free market dictates inevitably increases prices.

Your assumption of "free markets" is a mythical one.

Regardless, labor unions would be a feature of any conceptualization of free markets I’ve ever heard of. In what sense is cooperation and organization not compatible with a free market?

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#27

Post by pmoriarty »

sfink wrote: post #20
ryanseys wrote: post #8

Disclaimer: FTE at Verily (Google Life Sciences) Sounds like this isn't the first time this has happened and won't be the last. Both Compass (the firm that employs these cafeteria workers) and Google both have experience working with unions and are committed to working through this. Happy that these employees are getting the representation they deserve. I hope this means that these people will get better benefits tha…

> Google [has] experience working with unions and [is] committed to working through this. My impression is that Google's experience is mostly in seemingly illegal union-busting (well, preventing) efforts. Then again, my impression is wholly based on reading HN articles on the topic, generally related only to engineers. But I suppose they'll do what they're legally forced to do, more or less.

Or Google could just leave.

I hope they do.

Good riddance.

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#28

Post by en4bz »

baddox wrote: post #19
dominotw wrote: post #5

ppl also talk a lot about union for tech workers. Its not feasible in tech because a sizable majority of tech workers are on various visa's that precludes them from joining a strike, making the union essentially ineffective. This needs to be addressed first. Chicago has teachers union but filipino teachers on J1 cannot participate in a strike, it works for CTU because there are only a tiny fraction on J1 visa.

A majority of tech workers are on visas? I find that hard to believe.

TCS, Wipro, etc. probably skew this but it seems true to some extent at least in the bay area. [1]

[1] https://www.newsweek.com/h-1b-visa-row-foreign-workers-make-...

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#29

Post by kingkawn »

jayd16 wrote: post #15
greatscott404 wrote: post #3

The only reason labor unions are legal is that certain unions have outsized political clout, in a perfect world labor unions would be illegal under antitrust laws as forcing companies to pay workers more than what a free market dictates inevitably increases prices.

Using anti-trust laws to ensure labor can't organize in a way it deems fit because that's free market...wow.

demonstrative of the western world’s idea of freedom; anyone, with sufficient ruthlessness, can aspire to become the feudal lord.

Re: Thousands of Google’s cafeteria workers have unionized

#30

Post by shantly »

quotemstr wrote: post #23
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting account. Created 15 days ago, negative rep, and every comments are on the same nature: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=greatscott404

Market-based opposition to unionization is a perfectly reasonable and very common opinion. Looking at how our industry treats people who express this opinion, though, I don't blame the OP for using an alt. Our industry really needs to work on tolerating a wider band of worldviews.

> The only reason labor unions are legal is that certain unions have outsized political clout

That assertion, at least, sits somewhere between tautology ("sufficiently-powerful interest group is the only reason sufficiently-powerful-interest group's interests are advanced!" I mean, yes, that's... true) and blatant trololololing. Perhaps well-expressed "wrong think" would also have been punished, but this ain't that.

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