It is interesting that they didn't stop their active KickStarter campaign and pushed people to not pull their donations. It would be nice for them to walk the walk, they did create a petition in response... If I were the CEO I would feel pretty safe about moving forward with the same policies.
Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
11–20 of 72 posts
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#12Are there any fields similar to software development where there are unions? And if so how is that actually working?
It works great for the Screen Actor’s Guild and the rest of the film industry. They set minimum wages and use their market power to radically restrict entry so that there’s less competition from outsiders, by not working with firms that employ non-members and expelling members that do.
Any Software Professionals Guild could do the same, reduce the supply of competitors and punish people who employed any entry level workers who didn’t have the connections to get in.
One benefit, for current members, is that you can increase the cost of membership for new members. So you start off letting boot camp graduates work, then restrict it to Bachelor’s holders, (who must be taught by members of course), then to a Master’s.
You see the ever increasing credentialism in physiotherapy in the US, where you’re now required to have a “professional doctorate”. Pure waste given that it’s an apprenticeship in Germany and a Bachelor’s everywhere else.
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#13Current Affairs can be a fun read (Nathan Robinson, who is an extremely weird dude, writes long-long-long-form takedowns of right-wing figures). But it's also an outlet with a very clear political perspective ("workers should own the means of production" would be a reasonable first approximation; "Elizabeth Warren is dangerously conservative" is an illustrative claim), so bear that in mind as you read.
Could you possibly elaborate on why you feel Nathan Robinson is an extremely weird dude? I only know about him from his writing in Current Affairs (and famously his take-downs).
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#14The lack of unions in the industry is making me leave. It’s going to leave out many of its current employees to dry: I want something better than the word of an entrepreneur.
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#15The most interesting twist here is how it shows that "public benefit corporation" is an empty concept.
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#16It is interesting that they didn't stop their active KickStarter campaign and pushed people to not pull their donations. It would be nice for them to walk the walk, they did create a petition in response... If I were the CEO I would feel pretty safe about moving forward with the same policies.
Did you read the whole article? They _are_ pulling their campaign, after KS doubled down.
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#17The lack of unions in the industry is making me leave. It’s going to leave out many of its current employees to dry: I want something better than the word of an entrepreneur.
If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees.
I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and making it impossible to fire poor performers that make my job harder.
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#18The lack of unions in the industry is making me leave. It’s going to leave out many of its current employees to dry: I want something better than the word of an entrepreneur.
If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees. I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and makin…
You’re aware that the major professional sports in the US are unionized right?
Do you think the competition for talent for them is more or less fierce than it is for you?
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#19Pro or con of the union idea, I hope get they nailed for firing those two organizers. Firing someone and claiming poor performance makes me not want to support them anymore. I won't give them a cent.
I’ve not met either the Kickstarter management nor the people that were fired, but isn’t it possible that these folks knew they were poor performers and were on borrowed time with the company? They may have wanted to start a union that could bargain on their behalf with a lot more power.
I’m not saying that unions created in good faith are bad, but there are union leaders that give off a vibe of self-enrichment. Kind of like political lobbies- some are good, some are bad.
I don’t know if we should take the fired employees’ word for why they were fired. I’ve seen too many “bottom 5%ers” make up excuses why they were fired when the reality is that they plain couldn’t hack it. I’ll reserve judgement until there is a court case or a settlement. If it really is a slam-dunk case like the Twitter-verse makes it out to be, there are lawyers that are begging to help these poor souls.
Re: Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance
#20It is interesting that they didn't stop their active KickStarter campaign and pushed people to not pull their donations. It would be nice for them to walk the walk, they did create a petition in response... If I were the CEO I would feel pretty safe about moving forward with the same policies.
Did you read the whole article? They _are_ pulling their campaign, after KS doubled down.
Did you read it? They just stopped promoting it. It is literally still up https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/804992239/help-current-... . They claim they won't be back... but we will see about that
"We were unable to continue promoting our campaign, because every time we did, people criticized us for partnering with an anti-union company, which you have now admitted you are. As a result of our inability to promote the campaign in good conscience, our fundraiser has made far less money than it otherwise could have. "