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Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

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Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#731

Post by kerkeslager »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #714
kerkeslager wrote: post #681

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, pay me the money you were going to spend on snacks and the money you were going to pay the person who you pay to fetch the snacks, and I'll go fetch my own snacks or order them off the internet to my desk. It's arguable whether it's actually a perk for me to spend 8 hours in a row at my desk, but even if we accept that claim at face value, it's still not a significant factor in any decisions I make. Perks are t…

> Okay, pay me the money you were going to spend on snacks and the money you were going to pay the person who you pay to fetch the snacks, and I'll go fetch my own snacks or order them off the internet to my desk. Your office manager (or whoever) orders snacks from a contractor in bulk once a month (they don't make N GrubHub/etc individual orders every day). If they give you your fraction of that back, it wouldn't co…

Well I'm certainly not ordering from GrubHub either.

> Your office manager (or whoever) orders snacks from a contractor in bulk once a month (they don't make N GrubHub/etc individual orders every day). If they give you your fraction of that back, it wouldn't cover your GrubHub/etc order. Perks work because of these economies of scale.

What's the economy of scale on me getting up and going to get a fresh salad even when snacks are provided for free, because I value my health and sanity?

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#732

Post by vkou »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #674
heavyset_go wrote: post #604

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why wouldn't the same employees that are setting Uber's culture set the union culture? Company culture comes from the top.

In a union or a cooperative, the members actually have an opportunity to decide who gets to be at the top.

In a co-op, yes. In a union, no. You only elect your union leaders, not the company's leaders. The board decides who is in charge of the company, and the board is controlled by shareholders.

Powerful unions sometimes have a board seat, but one seat does not let you unilaterally impose who runs the company.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#733

Post by bobbytran »

piva00 wrote: post #663
bearmcbearsly wrote: post #618

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno... I was a victim of this wage-fixing scheme, as were all of my coworkers at the time. And I don't know of a single one who would have preferred to have a union collectively negotiating wages. The whole scheme was that the companies stopped their recruiters from cold-calling each others' employees. That kept wages down by reducing the opportunities for people to get a better salary by moving between companies…

Why do you think that strong unions will fight for collective negotiation of wages? Sweden has one of the strongest union system in the world and at the same time is one of the most entrepreneurial nations with high wages and lots of billionaires, salaries are lower than the US but they are still negotiated and not fixed by the union. The minimum wage for a specific job might be but apart from that I'm free to negoti…

It's very difficult to actually grow a company in a country like Sweden because of the regulations and taxes you are required to pay after a certain amount of employees.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#734

Post by [deleted] »

vangelis wrote: post #670
jcampbell1 wrote: post #549

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unions have a terrible reputation when it comes to helping people in the minority. They have elections and tyranny of the majority is the natural outcome. Unions and Labor parties have a nasty history of racism. About 15 years ago I was present when a UAW rep called a gay salaried coworker the f-word at 150 decibels and the company could do nothing. He is now the plant union chairman. I am sure this union will start…

What's to stop the bros from running management where they have all the power?

[deleted]

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#735

Post by mcantelon »

xkemp wrote: post #598
thu2111 wrote: post #563

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is ambiguous, but I guess those organising the union were taking the side of leaving the project up? Or is the union demanding total freedom of speech in the terms of service? I'm guessing not. Doesn't that bother you, at least a little bit? How can whether or not to leave up "always punch nazis" be the union's signature issue? Unions are meant to fight for the common man against the elites. alwayspunchna…

[flagged]

Perhaps mainstream conservatives would be cooler with this type of violent agitprop-masquerading-as-satire if it they weren't often called Nazis and physically attacked.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#737

Post by piva00 »

jkingsbery wrote: post #545
claudeganon wrote: post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Judging from this post, I’m not sure you fully grasp how basketball works nor the underlying concept of “team sports.” Even MJ needed 4 other guys on his side to win.

While it may be true that team sports need multiple players, several players have currently signed "supermax contracts." Since they signed a maximum contract, their team would be willing to pay them more, so they are underpaid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_salary_cap#Supermax_contra...

If you call US$ 201 million underpaid, sure. Or maybe US$ 229 million.

This is a ridiculous amount to play ball, if that cap means that mid level players get a decent life I think it's more than fair enough. I don't think a salary cap of a couple hundred millions of dollars would stop any human being innovating to get to such a job, I'm sorry.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#738

Post by TimTheTinker »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #714
kerkeslager wrote: post #681

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, pay me the money you were going to spend on snacks and the money you were going to pay the person who you pay to fetch the snacks, and I'll go fetch my own snacks or order them off the internet to my desk. It's arguable whether it's actually a perk for me to spend 8 hours in a row at my desk, but even if we accept that claim at face value, it's still not a significant factor in any decisions I make. Perks are t…

> Okay, pay me the money you were going to spend on snacks and the money you were going to pay the person who you pay to fetch the snacks, and I'll go fetch my own snacks or order them off the internet to my desk. Your office manager (or whoever) orders snacks from a contractor in bulk once a month (they don't make N GrubHub/etc individual orders every day). If they give you your fraction of that back, it wouldn't co…

Also, even if they were to give you your fraction of that back, that would count as taxable income - unless they categorize it as a "stipend" -- which requires a lot more up-front accounting/legal work on their end.

You may prefer getting $6/wk (or $5.04/wk after taxes) more instead of snacks at work, but the simple fact is that your employer provides snacks because it's in their best interest to do so. Whether it's in your interest is not the decisive factor, though they may take your opinion into consideration.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#739

Post by refurb »

pnw_hazor wrote: post #707
save_ferris wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not just wage-fixing, tech companies wield an absurd amount of power in other aspects of people’s lives. I was once let go due for “performance” reasons that involved major company politics behind the scenes. I’d just gotten my annual review from my boss emailed to my work email about a week before my termination, which showed stellar performance across the board. When I looked into filing for unemployment, I di…

For future reference, being fired because of performance or incompetency is unlikely to be a valid "for cause" firing that disqualifies one from unemployment benefits. If a person is fired because the employer claims they suck at the job (whether its true or not), they still get unemployment. Your mileage may vary depending on local laws or recent changes to employment law.

Yeah, I was going to say. "For cause" is usually things like theft or not showing up for work.

Failing to perform to a certain standard might be applicable if you just started, but if you've been there for years, it becomes a bit more shaky.

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