checks and balances against corporate power.
A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
151–160 of 1001 posts
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#152Unions are about locking in a minimum standard of work on something that doesn't change, stifling innovation, covering for underperforming colleagues, rewarding people based on how long they've been around, making things cost more than they should be, and worse. Why would I ever want to support such a system, in an industry that has brought innovative technology and material improvement in living standards and knowle…
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Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#153Don't think we've ever seen Hollywood in the modern era without unions, so not sure how you can claim it's "undeniable" the industry is better off. We basically have no clue if it's better off or not. Unions are intended for industries where a worker doesn't have a marketplace of options as there is a single or just a few employers (e.g. Hollywood, teachers, coal mining towns, hospital staff, etc.). Unionizing at Goo…
You list teachers, who in my opinion are the poster children of how problematic unions are.
And there are some phenomenal teachers out there. There are teachers that change lives profoundly. But they don't need the unions, and the terrible teachers who should be fired /are/ protected. It's really messed up, most people have first-hand experience with it, and they are a corrosive factor in the end.
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just wondering but what companies are comparable to google to work at (with similar pay and culture)? I can only think of a handful that pay as well and even less if you consider corporate mission and culture.
Exactly - people don't want to sacrifice their paycheck for their principles, so instead they are forming a union so they can try and change the company and have it both ways.
> so instead they are forming a union so they can try and change the company and have it both ways.
Is this a bad thing?
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
So these are really good examples, but I still don't understand what unions can do for 1% of someone's pay. They kind of look like subscription services, or worse places you have to join or else there are unintended consequences from other examples where they mention looking at union membership as an indicator of some experience (so kind of like a tax). The screen actors guild and all the movie-related guilds seem in…
My union membership more than paid for itself this year. My employer wanted to defer merit increase due to covid and all the uncertainty. The union called them on the bluff.
Was it really a bluff? How do you know if growth projects or other company investments had to be canceled?
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#156Honest question: are there good examples of unionized companies that continue to innovate post unionization? Unionization seems at the surface like the end stage of disruptor where stakeholders begin jockeying for slices of a pie that now grows linearly.
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the first I've ever suggested an opinion on it publicly, and I'm a line engineer, not management. Internally, I don't usually talk about things like this, either.
Ah, then it's likely that by chance someone just never got around to talking to you about it. It's a big company! Hopefully you'll soon get to talk to an organizer about your specific doubts.
It might also be that the organizers where only talking to people that they expected to be pro-union (as opposed to selecting people who only had not expressed negative views of unions). This is the safer approach at union-hostile companies like Google.
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
The way I see it, if unions did nothing, Google and Amazon wouldn't be working so hard to prevent them from forming.
Oh they do something, they help destroy a company’s ability to compete. Take a look at unionization of the auto industry in Detroit back in the 70s and 80s which basically killed our lead in the industry and gave it to Japan and Korean companies on a platter.
The auto industry was unionized way before the 70s and 80s. UAW was founded in 1935. What on earth are you talking about?
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there precedent for a group of unrelated individuals who happen to be in the same industry ‘unionizing’ ? Edit: answer of course is guilds, thanks commenters :) The word union threw me off. One could totally imagine an ‘app developers guild’ to help defend against the big guys. Go start one!
In Germany, there are "Genossenschaften"[1], which are cooperatives organized by small members to further a common commercial interest. For example, winemakers, which are often family businesses (at least in the area I'm from), often form them to sell wine, to have better leverage against the buyers, which are usually big companies like Aldi. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eingetragene_Genossenschaft
I believe this would be illegal under price fixing laws in many countries.
Multiple companies colluding to set certain terms on sales is illegal in many places.
Re: A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize
#160Before US-based workers jump on this and start talking about how unions are a bad thing in general, remember to look to Europe.
Trade unions are a huge part of the workforce culture here and are mostly a force for good.