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

Post by crankylinuxuser » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 10:54 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #44

ng12 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> a seller's market Is it as much as we think? It seems that big companies in Silicon Valley had no qualms about talking among one another about not "poaching" developers (what a lame term poaching is). I'm not terribly keen on the idea of unions either (or immigration restrictions for that matter), but we should damn well be sure that companies are not colluding.

Post by booleandilemma » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 10:55 PM UTC

ng12 wrote: post #5

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.

Post by Apocryphon » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 10:56 PM UTC

jdross wrote: post #86

p_monk wrote: post #72

For those people suggesting programmers shouldn't unionize, read the op-ed in Financial Times written by Sequoia's Michael Moritz this week to see why programmers should unionize ASAP: https://www.ft.com/content/42daca9e-facc-11e7-9bfc-052cbba03... In this article, he suggests Silicon Valley engineers should be worked to the bone like their Chinese counterparts. Some of the things he suggests in the articles: 1) End…

And yet here we are today in Silicon Valley with lavish perks, much higher than average pay in the country for software development, and no unions. We also have the ability to fire untalented or unpleasant people, and promote especially talented individuals regardless of age or tenure. You don't need to work at any company that looks like the above. And I don't know of any company that looks like the above.

Post by tptacek » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 10:59 PM UTC

odiroot wrote: post #91

tptacek wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's a "seller's market", why do so many developers work under onerous IP contracts that grant their employers rights to what they build in their spare time? If it's a "seller's market", why do so many developers work in noisy bullpen environments where they have to blast music into their ears with headphones to focus their attention on what they're building? If it's a "seller's market", why do so many developers…

> If it's a "seller's market", why do so many developers work in noisy bullpen environments where they have to blast music into their ears with headphones to focus their attention on what they're building? I'm curious, how does your office look like?

Post by paul7986 » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 10:59 PM UTC

ng12 wrote: post #5

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.