Jeff Bezos’ Dystopian Legacy Goes Far Beyond Amazon

Post by dgb23 » Wed, Jul 14, 2021, 9:30 AM UTC

nickik wrote: post #17

hjanssen wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are several countries with strong unions and a tradition of unions taking part in company matters, a good example would be my place, Germany. I have never seen a union "screwing over" a company, but many times have I seen complains that the unions screwed the company over from people that directly or indirectly profit from weak or no unions.

Its amazing how people endlessly talk about Germany but ignore all the other cases where Union are far less positive. How about we talk about how Venezuela Union bosses. How about the US car workers union being an endless pit of corruption. Switzerland is next to Germany, and has almost no union and there is not so much difference in overall standard of living and how workers are treated. The idea that Unions are thi…

Post by sk4rekr0w » Wed, Jul 14, 2021, 9:33 AM UTC

skohan wrote: post #20

sk4rekr0w wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that most propaganda comes from unions as they increasingly seek a political relationship with workers rather than the economic relationship that workers want. On any union site - there are terms like "solidarity" with images of fists raised rather than actual data about improvement of wages or working conditions. This is why unions get trounced in votes by real workers, things like Prop 22 pass with easy marg…

> This is why unions get trounced in votes by real workers, things like Prop 22 pass with easy margins, etc. I think it also has to do with the massive discrepancy in resources pro and anti-union advocates are able to put towards those races. Uber and Lyft invested massively in defeating prop 22, even advertising in their app directly.

Post by shmageggy » Wed, Jul 14, 2021, 9:36 AM UTC

MattGaiser wrote: post #7

Isn't Amazon's fear of running out of people a sign of the market correcting this?

Post by Akronymus » Wed, Jul 14, 2021, 9:36 AM UTC

arcturus17 wrote: post #16

arkitaip wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know that decades of anti-union propaganda is still in effect when individuals are convinced that working together with other individuals and pooling their resources to improve their working conditions is a bad thing. Of course when companies do it - through trade associations or lobbying - it's seen as natural and necessary for their survival.

Decades of anti-union propaganda, sure, but also decades of self-serving, power-hungry, and occasionally outright corrupt organizations that do not serve the interests of workers. Workers are not dumb, do not lack agency nor are as influenceable by propaganda as one might think - this a myth perpetuated by the paternalistic left, which has actually served it terribly - and in many cases have freely chosen to ignore o…

Post by pydry » Wed, Jul 14, 2021, 9:39 AM UTC

krige wrote: post #6

arkitaip wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know that decades of anti-union propaganda is still in effect when individuals are convinced that working together with other individuals and pooling their resources to improve their working conditions is a bad thing. Of course when companies do it - through trade associations or lobbying - it's seen as natural and necessary for their survival.

Speaking from practice in a country where unions are a traditional thing, strong unions can and will screw over a workplace. It's usually about a show of power and abusing veto ability to stay in power until the place stagnates, loses competitive status and disintegrates.