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Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

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Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#21
post #14
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. A strike is a weapon of last resort -- you have to have the ability to use it, but you don't want to use it. Much better is when both sides are negotiating rationally. When a union perceives that the company is not negotiating rationally, that's when they take a vote to authorize a strike. Then, hopefully, the strike doesn't happen... but it's available.

Is firing the entire union protected under labour laws in at will employment states?

The right to strike is federally protected:

https://www.nlrb.gov/strikes

Seems that if the employer can hire replacements quickly enough, the strikers don't get their jobs back.

"Economic strikers defined. If the object of a strike is to obtain from the employer some economic concession such as higher wages, shorter hours, or better working conditions, the striking employees are called economic strikers. They retain their status as employees and cannot be discharged, but they can be replaced by their employer. If the employer has hired bona fide permanent replacements who are filling the jobs of the economic strikers when the strikers apply unconditionally to go back to work, the strikers are not entitled to reinstatement at that time. However, if the strikers do not obtain regular and substantially equivalent employment, they are entitled to be recalled to jobs for which they are qualified when openings in such jobs occur if they, or their bargaining representative, have made an unconditional request for their reinstatement."

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#24
post #14
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. A strike is a weapon of last resort -- you have to have the ability to use it, but you don't want to use it. Much better is when both sides are negotiating rationally. When a union perceives that the company is not negotiating rationally, that's when they take a vote to authorize a strike. Then, hopefully, the strike doesn't happen... but it's available.

Is firing the entire union protected under labour laws in at will employment states?

That's an odd phrasing of the question, since normally we talk about rights of the employees being protected.

If you want to ask, "is it generally legal to fire all members of a union in retaliation", the answer is "it's complicated". Read https://www.nlrb.gov/strikes

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#25
post #5
post #2

Wirecutter is essentially just a glorified, prettified Amazon affiliate link aggregator anyway. I have tried so many of their recommendations - always making sure not to click the affiliate links directly - and been burned or at the very least disappointed more than enough times, that at this point I just use their site as a starting guide, and then make sure not to actually buy their recommended pick if at all possi…

If you’re reading their content why wouldn’t you click their affiliate links? You’re costing them server hours and purposefully not giving them revenue despite it costing you nothing.

Affiliate links are a cancer along with the rest of the advertising-surveillance industry, and it's best to avoid contributing however you can. I do all my product research with a different nym (separate browser VM and IP address) from what I actually login and checkout with.

In general the web was at its best decades ago, when people published because they knew things and were internally compelled to share. Despite the drop in quality and overwhelming prevalence of shameless blogspam (from which Wirecutter is one or two steps up), I prefer to continue acting as if that information sharing is still the overriding motivation.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#26
post #11
post #3

If a union isn’t threatening to strike, does that mean they’re not negotiating hard enough?

No. A strike is a weapon of last resort -- you have to have the ability to use it, but you don't want to use it. Much better is when both sides are negotiating rationally. When a union perceives that the company is not negotiating rationally, that's when they take a vote to authorize a strike. Then, hopefully, the strike doesn't happen... but it's available.

This is typically the case in Europe, where (unsurprisingly) unions are more common. In the US and the UK, you see more militant unions, more wildcat strikes, more picketing, etc. which is why union membership went through the floor (I am in the UK, we also have unions taking positions on climate change, on Israel/Palestine, they own the party in opposition and last year the most well-funded union leader attempted to get his girlfriend a seat in the House of Lords...they are very weird). Unions develop in their own political, legal, and cultural context so, for some, strikes are very much a first resort.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#27
post #12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re reading their content why wouldn’t you click their affiliate links? You’re costing them server hours and purposefully not giving them revenue despite it costing you nothing.

Are you saying I should be giving them revenue for not being terribly open about the fact that they only review products which can earn them a commission, and that furthermore, they deserve revenue from me for recommending products I spent about $500 or more in total for, only for them all to have significant flaws?

"the fact that they only review products which can earn them a commission"

So you're saying https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/about/ is a lie?

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#28
post #7

What are their current wages, and what are they offered, but have declined? I am unable to support or castigate unless I know what side is in error. We have seen the huge loss of first class mail starved the US Postal Service of $$, and now the decline in printed page journalism with the ease of access by all manner of fake news/blogs has starved the news papers of $$ - yet on the other hand there is a hedge fund buy…

They want $300k increase in wages - split across the 65 person team.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#29
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve found their recommendations to be pretty good in general. What products were you disappointed by? If both they and CR are in agreement it’s a pretty good bet.

It definitely depends on the category. I’ve found it most helpful for items that I don’t know much about, the capability and pricing tiers do matter, but it’s not going to be a purchase that needs to be absolutely perfect and I’m unlikely to have a strong opinion about later. Headphones? Stay away - too subjective. A humidifier for the nursery? Perfect.

This is where I have a problem with their reviews will start to dive into it but never really educate the reader enough to make an informed decision over trusting them. i.e in their recommended sleeping pads they don't even consider the lower end ones for testing and they balk at the higher end ones because of material choices(which they don't explain have trade offs ie cold or hot camping they remove mylar pads and nylon)Then they are left with picking from a bunch of clones of each other all at same price point with similar features and left with learning nothing other than they chose clone of a clone all because it goes on sale more often than the others

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#30
post #12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re reading their content why wouldn’t you click their affiliate links? You’re costing them server hours and purposefully not giving them revenue despite it costing you nothing.

Are you saying I should be giving them revenue for not being terribly open about the fact that they only review products which can earn them a commission, and that furthermore, they deserve revenue from me for recommending products I spent about $500 or more in total for, only for them all to have significant flaws?

> Are you saying I should be giving them revenue for not being terribly open about the fact that they only review products which can earn them a commission

It's right on the top of their front page:

"Wirecutter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more."

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