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Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

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Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#31

Post by Someone1234 »

chimeracoder wrote: post #29
danharaj wrote: post #6

As a contractor, I'm happy for them. One day we will have one big union.

> One day we will have one big union. The strength of labor unions in Europe is drawn in large part due to the fact that there are a multiplicity of unions representing workers for the same companies, and workers can choose who they want to represent them. That's not the case for labor unions in the US.

That's not the case because the US Government and industry has spent the last 150 years crushing unions and weakening them. Anti-union propaganda is rampant.

It could be the case in the US. Having a single union is a good place to start.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#32

Post by dmos62 »

jdkee wrote: post #7

“ I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.” -Eugene Debs

I'm sure this phrase inspired many, but it's talking about an extreme. What if the disadvantaged are not having a "wretched existence"? Is immense inequality ok then? That's the big question.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#33

Post by stronglikedan »

jdkee wrote: post #7

“ I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.” -Eugene Debs

> one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful

Assuming all of the risk is useful. I understand the point, but it's undercut by that woefully inaccurate jab.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#34

Post by dmix »

Someone1234 wrote: post #28
kirstenbirgit wrote: post #15

What's the benefit of being in a union for highly specialized tech workers that are very in demand?

The same things as any other union? Improved working conditions (e.g. hours), protecting employees from abuses, and maintaining fair pay & benefits. Unions as only a working class institution is mostly a US historic artifact. Other countries have unions in highly specialized and in-demand industries too.

What were the specific concerns of the Kickstarter employees though? Were they being worked extra hours or being abused by management? Or not getting proper market wages? This is quite a heavy hammer to a set of problems, so I'm curious how bad it really was.

Were they firing people arbitrarily making it a positive thing that the company will now have to jump through hoops to reprimand or get rid of the worst non-productive workers? Or the countless other limitations now imposed on the company from making decisions which benefit the existence of the company itself (and the fact they can even hire/pay for these workers)?

Will it make Kickstarter super cautious about hiring new people with their new extensive protections lowering the amount of people who would benefit from the success of various companies who have unions (and the taxation of these which benefits the wider community)? Turning them into mini-exclusive clubs of workers, while everyone else works p/t or on contract to avoid f/t hires?

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#35

Post by paxys »

kirstenbirgit wrote: post #15

What's the benefit of being in a union for highly specialized tech workers that are very in demand?

The top earning actors and athletes in the country all have strong union representation, but for some reason it's software engineers who think "nah we are too well paid".

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#36

Post by Pfhreak »

kirstenbirgit wrote: post #15

What's the benefit of being in a union for highly specialized tech workers that are very in demand?

Advocating for better working conditions. For example (not saying that these are specific to Kickstarter, I don't know that culture, but they do occur elsewhere in tech):

1) Better IP restrictions. Working on open source, side projects, etc.

2) Better treatment around oncall.

3) Limiting hours (no expectations of 60+ hour weeks)

4) Transparency in hiring, promotion, and review processes

5) Transparency in company performance and benefits decisions

6) Better benefits, particularly things like parental leave, vacation, and health care

7) A greater slice of the value that workers provide

8) Representation at the board level, or at least a democratically elected representative to the C-level

9) A representative during disagreements with the company (e.g. making it harder to be singled out/fired just because)

There are probably a bunch more, this is just what comes to mind off the top of my head.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#37

Post by CPLX »

kirstenbirgit wrote: post #15

What's the benefit of being in a union for highly specialized tech workers that are very in demand?

Many other specialized high demand workforces with intense disparities in skill and compensation between coworkers have done well with unions. Professional athletes, screenwriters, and actors are obvious reference points.

Re: Kickstarter employees vote to unionize

#40

Post by chimeracoder »

Someone1234 wrote: post #31
chimeracoder wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One day we will have one big union. The strength of labor unions in Europe is drawn in large part due to the fact that there are a multiplicity of unions representing workers for the same companies, and workers can choose who they want to represent them. That's not the case for labor unions in the US.

That's not the case because the US Government and industry has spent the last 150 years crushing unions and weakening them. Anti-union propaganda is rampant. It could be the case in the US. Having a single union is a good place to start.

> That's not the case because the US Government and industry has spent the last 150 years crushing unions and weakening them. Anti-union propaganda is rampant.

Well, no, the fact that almost all unions in the US use exclusive representation contracts (compared to Europe, where such contracts are range from "unheard-of in most industries" to "illegal") is not due to anti-union propaganda.

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