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Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

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Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#851

Post by lawnchair_larry »

ksr_throwaway wrote: post #536
thu2111 wrote: post #515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the article's description of why the union was created accurate?

Yes it's accurate, though the "Always Punch Nazis" controversy was just the tip of the iceberg. Employees were being treated like enemies by some in upper management. Edit: I've been rate limited by HN mods (thanks!), so not replying on this account anymore. All the best!

You have it backwards. The employees treated management like enemies, and still are. Now everyone else is legally required to as well. What a disaster.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#852

Post by lawnchair_larry »

thu2111 wrote: post #563
ksr_throwaway wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it's accurate, though the "Always Punch Nazis" controversy was just the tip of the iceberg. Employees were being treated like enemies by some in upper management. Edit: I've been rate limited by HN mods (thanks!), so not replying on this account anymore. All the best!

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…

The irony here is that most union members in the US are Trump supporters.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#853

Post by [deleted] »

Apocryphon wrote: post #765
brianwawok wrote: post #763

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A union also tends to mean that you get paid for the # of years you worked your job, not how good you are. This is a good thing for the bottom 50% of workers, and a bad thing for the top 50% of workers. Does this union do anything to address that? Is pay still fully merit based?

Why do unions have to have seniority rules? Certainly next-gen unions can pursue a different model.

[deleted]

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#854

Post by lawnchair_larry »

fzeroracer wrote: post #295
zip1234 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a uncle that was a bricklayer and moved somewhere that bricklayers were in demand so that he could get paid more. He was not a union member. When the union found out he was doing the same work for slightly less, they sent some people over to threaten his life if he didn't join union or leave. He left.

I had a father that worked as a fisherman for a small company which was not union. He ended up dying because the owners didn't properly inspect the boat and it capsized because of a fatal flaw in the design, killing everyone on board. Using your same argument, we should abolish all corporations, correct? Since a poorly ran corporation can quite literally kill people due to negligence. I find it honestly absurd that p…

Because your issue is better solved by regulations.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#855

Post by Aunche »

Aunche wrote: post #768
elicash wrote: post #379

1. Why do tech workers need a union? If you want to improve your workplace, you have additional leverage to fight for changes if you're in a union. There's often very little you can do alone. This might be things like pay, or it might be something else entirely. 2. But aren't tech workers elite coddled rich kids who are lucky to make what they receive? I mean, no. But even if so, high pay doesn't stop athletes from j…

Those may be the stated reasons for a union, but for some reason, in tech, workers just want a union because they want to inject their political views into their company: > But in 2018, a heated disagreement broke out between employees and management about whether to leave a project called “Always Punch Nazis” on the platform, according to reporting in Slate. When Breitbart said the project violated Kickstarter’s ter…

The Kickstarter campaign was worse than I thought: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/282505033/always-punch-...

The back cover (near the bottom of the page) clarifies that "Nazi" includes everyone who is alt-right. It describes itself as "satirical," but you can say that about anything blatantly offensive.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#856

Post by manfredo »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #736

What are the cons of unionizing? All of the benefits always seem "too good to be true" to be.

In a non right-to-work state like NY, it means you have to pay dues to a union that negotiates on your behalf. It can very well end up negotiating for things you don't want, or are even actively against. For instance, a teacher may be in favor of merit-based promotion and compensation while they are obligated to pay dues to a union that pushes for seniority based pay.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#857

Post by awalton »

TylerE wrote: post #651
kerkeslager wrote: post #646

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, frankly, fsk free snacks. Pay me the money you were going to spend on snacks, and I'll choose whether to spend it on snacks or not. And since the money spent on free snacks was probably about $20/week, it won't be a significant consideration in any of my decisions. Bus service might be more significant in some places, but every place I've ever lived had that subsidized by the government, and long commutes are a…

They are buying more than the snacks. They are buying you time, since you never need to make office grocery runs to stock your desk. Might not be a huge deal, but elimination of chores really is a perk.

You know, with the advent of Amazon and other Task Rabbitty to-your-door delivery services, did they really save me any chore here? I can get just about anything delivered to my door stop within 48 hours, why is it trouble for me to get my preferred snacks at all?

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#858

Post by charlesu »

miscPerson wrote: post #610
ken wrote: post #595

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sexist/racist people don’t show up to union meetings and volunteer for union committees to push sexist/racist policies. It’s not like national politics where it’s a prestigious and high paying job, and corporations are throwing a ton of money behind candidates. Also, unions are usually not employer-specific. No matter how many jerks you have at one company, they can’t overpower all the voting members at all the other…

Respectfully, plenty of misandrists and anti-White racists do show up to those meetings and join panels to push their discriminatory agenda. Why do you think we talk about the lack of women in STEM, but not the lack of men in HR, education, social work, psychology, etc? Because bigots set the agenda. Having sports programs for one sex has been ruled illegal under Title IX — but how many universities have special tuto…

What is discriminatory about taking active measures to ensure that the tech monoculture does not perpetuate itself? If there are programs for women in STEM majors who need extra support, it is because women in STEM majors may have to surmount an obstacle that men do not: namely, that women are not fit for engineering.

This webcomic sums up why so many organizations take active measures to support women in STEM in one panel: https://xkcd.com/385/

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#859

Post by mst »

wyager wrote: post #839
kerkeslager wrote: post #646

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, frankly, fsk free snacks. Pay me the money you were going to spend on snacks, and I'll choose whether to spend it on snacks or not. And since the money spent on free snacks was probably about $20/week, it won't be a significant consideration in any of my decisions. Bus service might be more significant in some places, but every place I've ever lived had that subsidized by the government, and long commutes are a…

Office perks are tax efficient. They aren’t subject to payroll taxes and are a deductible business expense. Not having any perks at all would be wasteful.

Also notable - there are companies that provide 'free' perks for your staff where a few of them are concrete and the rest are discounts on things from their marketing partners.

Honestly, I'd be tempted to sign up and then tell incoming employees the truth thereof.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#860

Post by mst »

save_ferris wrote: post #697
djsumdog wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should be able to subpoena those e-mails and other documents. Depending on your municipality, there is usually a court/tribunal process just for unemployment claims, or you could get an employment lawyer. It is going to eat up some of that unemployment, but it's worth it to not let a company get away with that kind of shit.

> but it’s worth it Is it, though? I chose to focus on finding the next gig and luckily got one in a couple weeks. The emotional toll of subjecting yourself to the legal system against an entity with a team of lawyers sounds absolutely horrible.

It probably isn't worth it.

But it might be satisfying enough for you to decide to do it anyway.

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