New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike

Post by codr7 » Wed, Sep 11, 2024, 7:39 PM UTC

ExoticPearTree wrote: post #299

kennywinker wrote: post #67

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> And unions will only solidify that into stone to prevent any sort of optimization that would bring the complexity down. It looks like you've bought into some anti-union talking points. Efficiency is sometimes good. But sometimes it's just a way of shifting profit from workers to capital. As an example: if I replace 100 workers managing a server farm with an AWS account - the money that would have paid 100 humans to…

> Efficiency is sometimes good. Efficiency is always good. What you're basically saying is that you want to have your cake and eat it too. Which doesn't actually happen.

Post by Spooky23 » Wed, Sep 11, 2024, 7:45 PM UTC

bad_user wrote: post #487

umvi wrote: post #475

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If you read books from the early 1900s (Radium Girls, Rocket Boys, Seabiscuit), it's painfully obvious to see how incredibly exploitative industries can become (literally working people to death) without something like a union to check corporate greed against worker well-being. It's a fine balance though. Unions are organizations very similar to companies and can fall victim to the same sins as exploitative companies…

It should also be painfully obvious that, during those times, the alternative — subsistence agriculture — was much worse, and people working in factories no longer starved. The industrial revolution, AKA "greed", has ended starvation and slavery, so when socialists of late 1800s or early 1900s talk of exploitation, that should raise an eyebrow. Unions are not similar to companies because they don't compete on the fre…

Post by Spooky23 » Wed, Sep 11, 2024, 7:48 PM UTC

Alupis wrote: post #531

mplewis wrote: post #518

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They are dying of hunger because of corporate greed. Africa has many of the world’s most resource-rich areas, but they don’t realize the profits: Western corporations that extract the resources using local slave labor do.

So what's been stopping African companies/government from exploiting their own natural resources for all of these years? "Corporate greed" is a fun slogan, but means nothing in reality. In the few areas where the government is exploiting its own natural resources (instead of outsiders), the working and living conditions are not inherently better. If it worked that way, all of the middle east and large areas of Africa…

Post by robertlagrant » Wed, Sep 11, 2024, 7:50 PM UTC

triceratops wrote: post #461

robertlagrant wrote: post #385

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It doesn't raise standards. It squishes them at both ends, particularly the top. That might be what you want, but tech salaries have bloomed massively because there isn't a union. You might say "that's over; now let's lock in our massive salaries", but I doubt it'll work that way. Tech isn't hyper-individualist. It just leans slightly to the individual, because any half-decent tech worker is worth a lot to an organis…

> tech salaries have bloomed massively because there isn't a union I presume you support free markets, so I'm surprised that supply and demand never crossed your mind as the reason for high tech salaries. Professional athletes, actors, and screenwriters enjoy both high salaries and union protections.

Post by nox101 » Wed, Sep 11, 2024, 7:53 PM UTC

ncr100 wrote: post #459

Awesome news. In my experience, Mismanagement, both in personnel and compensation, seems to be commonplace, as corporations seek to lower costs in response to our changing economy. Corporations looking to find an advantage may shortchange employees, overwork them, and not train managers but rather expect everybody to "just work well together", deflecting responsibility. Unionizing provides a relief valve where unions…