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Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

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191–200 of 1001 posts

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#191

Unions don’t always contribute to a better outcome for their workers, and it looks like working conditions wasn’t a strong enough driver for the majority of the workers. It’s hard to motivate a vote for unions when Amazon pays double the federal minimum wage.

Perhaps but this ignores the million+ dollar campaign Amazon leveraged to push people to vote no. It's not like it explains all the vote but it's definitely a component.

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#192
post #176

It was clear getting these workers to unionize was good for the union... it was much less clear why it would be good for the workers. People can say what they want about Amazon but the reality is they provide a far better job, wage, and benefits than most. Apart from the broad sweeping messaging around corporations = bad, unions = the answer, it wasn’t really clear at all why a union would benefit workers here. As su…

Collective bargaining lets the employees push back against issues that would otherwise risk their career. For example, an individual speaking up against horrible working conditions, metric-focused managers, and ignorance of unsafe practices would risk getting fired, so the issues would persist. A union would have the leverage required to push back against such issues.

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#193
post #9

I absolutely do not understand why you would vote against your own collective interest for a small amount of union dues. That is not snark, it's a real statement. I legitimately do not understand it. Can someone who works/worked one of these jobs please explain it to me? I am so confused by how lopsided this was.

If you are excellent at your job and can get a different one, why would you unionize?

The union takes money out of your pocket, reduces your ability to get paid for performance, and slows the firm's ability to innovate.

If the firm mistreats you, you can leave.

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#194

Unions don’t always contribute to a better outcome for their workers, and it looks like working conditions wasn’t a strong enough driver for the majority of the workers. It’s hard to motivate a vote for unions when Amazon pays double the federal minimum wage.

> Unions don’t always contribute to a better outcome for their workers

You can say this about anything.

Getting a job doesn't always contribute to a better outcome for the unemployed.

Getting healthcare doesn't always contribute to better health outcomes.

Getting housing after being homeless doesn't always lead to a better life.

> It’s hard to motivate a vote for unions when Amazon pays double the federal minimum wage.

So many people repeating the same things over and over.

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#195
post #9

I absolutely do not understand why you would vote against your own collective interest for a small amount of union dues. That is not snark, it's a real statement. I legitimately do not understand it. Can someone who works/worked one of these jobs please explain it to me? I am so confused by how lopsided this was.

Gaslit to death

Funny how some resort to calling workers gullible when they don't vote the way they're supposed to. You're saying these people have no agency and no understanding of their own situation? How patronizing! I thought accepting the will of the people is the whole goal of democracy?

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#196

HN is very consistently anti-union. My question is this: Where did you get information about unions? Because people keep mentioning their "bad reputation" and then start listing off a bunch of "facts" that read like they're bullets straight out of one of those anti-union videos during onboard at several major employers (Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc). So anti-union people exactly where does your information come from?…

I went to a school where the teacher's union made it impossible to remove incompetent teachers. Teachers who got consistently poor student results, didn't control the class, took several months of "sick" leave, etc.

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#197

Unions don’t always contribute to a better outcome for their workers, and it looks like working conditions wasn’t a strong enough driver for the majority of the workers. It’s hard to motivate a vote for unions when Amazon pays double the federal minimum wage.

A lot of unions ended up being just another means for the mafia to steal from the poor, skimming off the top of pensions funds and the like. Similar corruption exists today. It is inevitable.

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#198
post #128
post #9

I absolutely do not understand why you would vote against your own collective interest for a small amount of union dues. That is not snark, it's a real statement. I legitimately do not understand it. Can someone who works/worked one of these jobs please explain it to me? I am so confused by how lopsided this was.

Reading the replies here I’m pretty shocked by the lack of good arguments against unionisation. Its sad.

The arguments against come from uncertainty, "there are clearly trade offs" "I don't know but people with skin in the game are against it" "This will cause problems in the long run"

The arguments in favor are certain. There's is no mention of downsides; the only talk is of more money and more security with at most a mention that some dues will need to be paid (though on balance the worker will come out ahead).

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#199

HN is very consistently anti-union. My question is this: Where did you get information about unions? Because people keep mentioning their "bad reputation" and then start listing off a bunch of "facts" that read like they're bullets straight out of one of those anti-union videos during onboard at several major employers (Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc). So anti-union people exactly where does your information come from?…

Personally, it came from working for a massive union (government, not US) for many years. The downsides are real: hard to fire bad performers, your merits don't matter at all (the guy doing the bare minimum job description gets the same raises as you), wayyy too much focus on seniority (for promotions, vacation selection, etc), and overall just too many rules (for example, "unlimited vacation" works great with my current employer but would absolutely not work under a union.. sick days have to be tracked, PTO banks calculated down to the quarter hour, etc).

On the plus side, we paid like $15/month so I'm not sure why Amazon is trying to scare people with the "union dues" argument. And it was nice to have the option for "representation" in HR-like meetings.

There's definitely pluses and minuses, but (having worked on both sides) it's not for me.

Re: Amazon workers vote against unionizing in Alabama

#200
post #9

I absolutely do not understand why you would vote against your own collective interest for a small amount of union dues. That is not snark, it's a real statement. I legitimately do not understand it. Can someone who works/worked one of these jobs please explain it to me? I am so confused by how lopsided this was.

> I absolutely do not understand why you would vote against your own collective interest

Americans have been doing exactly that for decades.

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