• @[email protected]
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    213 hours ago

    Holy shit Intuit and GM better shape the fuck up or the workers should just hurry up and fucking do it.

    • @[email protected]
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      51 hour ago

      GM also has tons of union employees which has some impact on the non-union portion (i.e. better benefits etc), so seeing first-hand what unions can do for you might make them more likely to support one even if their current working conditions are great.

  • @[email protected]
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    73 hours ago

    If that happens, they are going to see a lot of things seemingly from the past connected to union activity though.

    Not just strike breakers being hired (some of tech work is not that demanding in expertise, think typical Hindu web devs), but also actual spies, saboteurs, hitmen being involved, propaganda attacks, possibly legal attempts to bust unions and use of force. And, of course, crucial positions in union bureaucracy becoming attractive for organized crime (which likely has very few of people associated with it ever convicted, as in mostly invisible until it’s too late).

    Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Just the more adult level of the game. Considering that the tech industry is at the core of our civilization now, and considering its profits, this can get as historic as battle of the Blair mountain.

    • @[email protected]
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      22 hours ago

      One new difference in our favor: we can reasonably have meetings online, no longer needing a large shared space.

      • @[email protected]
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        159 minutes ago

        WFH + satellite internet + solar panels = If you want to threaten violence, you’ll have to find me

    • Avid AmoebaOP
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      2 hours ago

      They’re doing that in any case when they can get away with it. Not forming a union isn’t going stop them.

  • Allah
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    3 hours ago

    Unions can affect productivity of a cooperation which might cause you to lose your job.

    • @[email protected]
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      52 hours ago

      They can also prevent you from losing your job unfairly, and fight for wage increases and benefits that you otherwise wouldn’t get.

    • Avid AmoebaOP
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      Productivity isn’t affected much by individuals beyond some marginal differences. An accountant from 1920 can never be as productive as an accountant today no matter how hard they try. When productivity is discussed by economists, it means investment in equipment and training that makes people produce more for the same hours. When productivity is discussed by business leaders in relation to unions, you’re being lied to or they’re incompetent.

    • @[email protected]
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      166 hours ago

      Unions are legal in all occupations. There may be restrictions on some form of collective action (i.e. the government can force strikers back to work) but organizing is never illegal.

      • @[email protected]
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        63 hours ago

        Unions are legal in all occupations.

        One caveat: the legal protections of the right to unionize apply to non-supervisors. If you have people who report to you, your power to unionize is pretty limited.

        There are also some specialized jobs that aren’t allowed to unionize by either federal or state law: actual soldiers in the Army, certain political jobs, etc.

        But for the most part, if you are employed, you’re probably allowed to unionize (and protected against retaliation even in an unsuccessful union drive).

    • @[email protected]
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      106 hours ago

      Unions are legal in the US. The labor movement is currently seeing a huge swell in new bargaining units across most unions

    • @[email protected]
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      55 hours ago

      Legal but some States have weird laws in place like being able to not be part of the Union if you don’t want to

    • @[email protected]
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      63 hours ago

      The union autoworkers get good benefits like overtime pay for work over 8 hours. Union working come in at 6, then take a fixed breakfast and lunch break and then leave at 2:30. Anything over that will need approval and overtime pay. I’m surprised Ford and Stellantis isn’t alongside with GM.

      • @[email protected]
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        Edit: cause some jackass is implying I’m a bot - I should have joined a union and a union would’ve protected me from the mass layoff in '23 but that doesn’t change that while there I never thought about needing a union because it was such a nice place otherwise.

        As someone who previously worked at Google - they didn’t have any antiunion propaganda.

        They just, like, paid well, had top tier benefits, great perks, and had a good work life balance.

        • @[email protected]
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          54 hours ago

          That’s the other option, of course: If your employees are happy, they don’t need to form a union to press complaints.

        • Redjard
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          13 hours ago

          which also references an effort to use the media to quietly disseminate Google’s point of view about unionized tech workplaces.

          Bogas’ order references an effort by Google executives, including corporate counsel Christina Latta, to “find a ‘respected voice to publish an op-ed outlining what a unionized tech workplace would look like,” and urging employees of Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google not to unionize.

          in an internal message Google human resources director Kara Silverstein told Latta that she liked the idea, “but that it should be done so that there ‘would be no fingerprints and not Google specific.’”

          From the article posted by 100_kg_90_de_belin.

          Google seemingly does care about their internal image, so they will only make their actions obvious when they fire you for bogus reasons after wanting to join a union.
          Quite nasty in that they give you no hints about how extreme their efforts on this are. They monitor internal employee tools like they are cosplaying the NSA, but you wouldn’t know before you are fired out of the blue.

      • Avid AmoebaOP
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        4210 hours ago

        This is likely the case with GM given that their manufacturing is unionised. Engineers just got a demo what that can do for them last year. They aren’t getting the raise assembly workers got.

      • @[email protected]
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        189 hours ago

        Silicon valley is full of H1B visa holders who can’t speak up politically or risk deportation.

        • @[email protected]
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          33 hours ago

          This makes a lot of sense. I can definitely see those companies at the bottom having way more H1B workers than the ones st the top.

    • RiverGhost
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      117 hours ago

      Funny, seeing them at the top gave me a favorable impression of them, but seems to have caused the opposite for you. My impression was probably due to, like someone else said, feeling like maybe they’re not being drilled with as much anti-union propaganda.

      But I’m from a place where you have to go out of your way not to be part of a union.

    • @[email protected]
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      1510 hours ago

      Idk about intuit but GM is probably a result of their union coworkers getting awesome Bennie’s.

    • @[email protected]
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      38 hours ago

      10% of people are insane so they even got significant chunks of the crazy vote for GM and Intuit

    • @[email protected]
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      95 hours ago

      A collective agreement can’t include less than the law but can provide more than the law, so they could add paid overtime in the collective agreement and the employer would have to follow that even though the law doesn’t make it mandatory.

      A collective agreement is a work contract, the only difference is that the employees negotiate it as a group instead of one by one.

    • @[email protected]
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      46 hours ago

      Unions generally don’t write or repeal laws, but a union contract can negotiate overtime pay where there isn’t any.

  • @[email protected]
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    169 hours ago

    Anything using Blind as a “verified industry source” is going to be skewed to the type of person who uses Blind. Beyond that, it’s low sample size, and there are suspiciously round fractions for some of the larger companies. Worse, because Blind is blind - this doesn’t represent current employees, but merely people who worked at some point in the past at those companies.

    Not saying it’s not good - just saying not to get overly excited over a badly done survey

  • Avid AmoebaOP
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    2811 hours ago

    Not bad, I thought our heads were still further up our asses.

    • @[email protected]
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      116 hours ago

      Especially with remote work, not sure how to organize.

      Remote work didn’t stop you working, did it? Why would it stop unions from working? There’s on the ground work for sure, but it’s mostly desk stuff, especially in IT.

    • @[email protected]
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      65 hours ago

      The same way you organize anything. Start by talking to a couple trusted coworkers to form an organizing committee. All the members of the OC need to talk to coworkers, handle workplace drama, agitate for better conditions, educate people about unions, maintain systematic campaign tracking, and fight against the boss during their union busting campaign. When I worked remotely, it was as simple as sending a dm like this:

      Hey, would you be able to talk over break? Some coworkers and I were discussing some issues and I wanted to hear your thoughts.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 hours ago

      Form out of band relationships with coworkers you trust to get a base going then send an email to everyone from your department from an anonymous email address to solicit feedback and organize a vote.

  • bruhduh
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    47 hours ago

    Apple workers is anti union? WTF, i thought apple was one of the most liberal leaning corporations

    • @[email protected]
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      177 hours ago

      There are two reasons to avoid a union:

      1. Fear of retaliation - Amazon et al.
      2. Perceived lack of need.

      If you are well looked after by your company and are treated fairly, there is no need to create a union.

      Apple may be in this category?

  • edric
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    210 hours ago

    Gotta ask some of my coworkers if they were one of the participants in the survey.