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Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

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Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#11
post #7

“ I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.” -Eugene Debs

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Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#13
post #8

They'd be wise to learn from history: There are many people willing do your job for cheaper, most of them in other countries working for smaller wages.

There wouldn't be any programmers in the Bay Area—or, for that matter, the US—if price were the only relevant factor in hiring developers.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#14
Congrats to the Kickstarter folks. Here's hoping this is the turn towards increased workers rights in the tech sector.

Yes, this sector tends to pay fairly well, but that doesn't mean there aren't other areas to improve. From IP restrictions to overtime, oncall to transparency in promotions, there are countless workplace conditions I hear about needing to improve constantly.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#17
post #4

I'm pretty sure that Microsoft had something akin to a union at least a decade ago. Any Microsofters here?

I was there a decade ago, nothing of the kind was transpiring within my earshot. I also have plenty of friends there and never heard anything like this.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#18
post #8

They'd be wise to learn from history: There are many people willing do your job for cheaper, most of them in other countries working for smaller wages.

I hope then you're passing on pay increases and benefit improvements to stay competitive. If not, then you're applying different logic to single employee competitiveness then to group bargaining without any factual basis.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#19
post #9
post #7

“ I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.” -Eugene Debs

Nobody at kickstarter is living a wretched existence.

That is some of the reason they can unionize. Kickstarter produces enough surplus that the workers can get a better deal than they would otherwise.

What's much more interesting is the labor status of the people who work on the Kickstarted projects.

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