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Union Is Formed at Los Angeles Times and Publisher Put on Leave

nytimes.com

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Re: Union Is Formed at Los Angeles Times and Publisher Put on Leave

#3

Post by rhizome »

chollida1 wrote: post #2

I thought this was interesting because if knowledge workers like journalists can do so, why not programmers, or what ever term you'd prefer to be called?

They could, and there have been rumblings about doing so for many years, including among sysadmins. It emerged from many corners: layoffs of the first dot com crash, unrealistic deadlines, afterhours work, general crappy management support, underpayage, etc. I think generally the attitude is "why would I want to be paid less?"

Re: Union Is Formed at Los Angeles Times and Publisher Put on Leave

#4

Post by untog »

chollida1 wrote: post #2

I thought this was interesting because if knowledge workers like journalists can do so, why not programmers, or what ever term you'd prefer to be called?

It is interesting that programmers (as a whole) seem resistant to it. It's often described as being unnecessary, but when you go one or two posts down HN you find people decrying long hours, open plan offices, weekend callouts, etc. etc.

I suspect it's just that when the going is good, people don't really think they need a union. If the prophecies come true and AI starts writing code for us, you can bet people will suddenly be interested in unionisation.

Re: Union Is Formed at Los Angeles Times and Publisher Put on Leave

#5

Post by ng12 »

chollida1 wrote: post #2

I thought this was interesting because if knowledge workers like journalists can do so, why not programmers, or what ever term you'd prefer to be called?

Why do we need a union in a seller's market? If I'm unhappy with my job I can quit and get a new one in a week.

It's not about being a knowledge worker. Screenwriters are unionized because there are many more people who want to write than there are gigs, therefore there's a high potential for abuse.

Re: Union Is Formed at Los Angeles Times and Publisher Put on Leave

#6

Post by dmix »

I'm curious what effect this will have on all the constant cries for more "real journalism" instead of companies pushing for low budget high volume output and semi-digitized content milling. Hiring "real journalists" full time just got a lot more expensive for a company that was already attempting to reinvent itself in a struggle for profitability in a strained industry.

Also, can't the LA Times easily just buy up more freelance material from non-employees (not only journalism, graphics, web work, etc)?

Re: Union Is Formed at Los Angeles Times and Publisher Put on Leave

#7

Post by e1ven »

chollida1 wrote: post #2

I thought this was interesting because if knowledge workers like journalists can do so, why not programmers, or what ever term you'd prefer to be called?

I've talked to people in the past who associate a union with factory work, and they don't feel like it applies to them.

I sometimes point out that every movie star they've ever heard of is a member of a union.

I think part of the problem comes from the decline in unions in the US over the last few decades. New industries aren't unionizing, and older unions are being undermined where possible.

Re: Union Is Formed at Los Angeles Times and Publisher Put on Leave

#8

Post by problems »

chollida1 wrote: post #2

I thought this was interesting because if knowledge workers like journalists can do so, why not programmers, or what ever term you'd prefer to be called?

I'm a programmer who's currently in a union position - I want out. I pay dues and get basically nothing for them, as developers we're generally in decent negotiating positions. Unions are great when you're not in that position, but just an extra cost when you are.
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