It's amazing how little HN readers understand about unions. A company is an organization that has some positive and some negative aspects.
And believe it or not, a union is also an organization with some negative and positive aspects.
The difference is, once you have a union in an organization its very hard to dislodge it no matter how dysfunctional it gets.
I would suggest HN readers read about what UAW did in the auto industry, particularly the way the auto union functioned at the Toyota NUMA plant in California.
Then they should read about the corruption at the Teamsters (I'm sure you have heard about the collusion between union bosses like Hoffa and the Mafia). The high profile corruption is just the tip of the iceberg. Even your local teachers union has a tremendous amount of nepotism and corruption ... its not at all meritocratic.
And the worst part about a union is that it turns the workplace from a zone where we are evaluated based on our output into a zone where politics dominates when it comes time for compensation and promotion discussions.
I will never again work in a unionized workplace ... and thanks to getting an education and learning how to program I will thankfully not have to do it ever again.
If we're going to go back in time to talk about Hoffa era unions why stop there, companies used to prefer gunning down their striking/organizing employees with Pinkerton agents rather than give benefits of any kind.
With a union there's some democratic influence. You're only option for changing the company is to leave if you're anywhere below VP level.
>I would suggest HN readers read about what UAW did in the auto industry, particularly the way the auto union functioned at the Toyota NUMA plant in California.
Link some, first results I get for UAW + auto industry are propagandized anti-union sites and Toyota's own press release about how they're proud to give more money to the team.
And believe it or not, a union is also an organization with some negative and positive aspects.
The difference is, once you have a union in an organization its very hard to dislodge it no matter how dysfunctional it gets.
I would suggest HN readers read about what UAW did in the auto industry, particularly the way the auto union functioned at the Toyota NUMA plant in California.
Then they should read about the corruption at the Teamsters (I'm sure you have heard about the collusion between union bosses like Hoffa and the Mafia). The high profile corruption is just the tip of the iceberg. Even your local teachers union has a tremendous amount of nepotism and corruption ... its not at all meritocratic.
And the worst part about a union is that it turns the workplace from a zone where we are evaluated based on our output into a zone where politics dominates when it comes time for compensation and promotion discussions.
I will never again work in a unionized workplace ... and thanks to getting an education and learning how to program I will thankfully not have to do it ever again.