<story><title>Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance</title><url>https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/09/kickstarter-to-workers-and-project-creators-drop-dead</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>baron816</author><text>If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees.&lt;p&gt;I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and making it impossible to fire poor performers that make my job harder.</text></item><item><author>SomeOtherThrow</author><text>The lack of unions in the industry is making me leave. It’s going to leave out many of its current employees to dry: I want something better than the word of an entrepreneur.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Volundr</author><text>Unless the union negotiates an exclusive hire contract with the company (very difficult unless the union controls most of the labor supply), you can simply not join the union.&lt;p&gt;I always find these things arguments a bit weird. Lets look at the concerns&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; forcing me to pay dues&lt;p&gt;Don&amp;#x27;t join. No dues, no help from the union.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; demanding changes to the structure of the company&lt;p&gt;As an employee you have no say in the structure of the company and it may restructure at any moment. As a union member at least have some say in what the union pushes for. It seems like this is arguing for no control instead of some.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;  devaluing my equity&lt;p&gt;How?&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; making it impossible to fire poor performers that make my job harder.&lt;p&gt;Again how? A union can&amp;#x27;t stop a company from firing someone (barring contracts the company may have signed with the union). A union &lt;i&gt;can&lt;/i&gt; assist the fired employee in things like negotiating severance, or mounting a legal challenge if the employee was discriminated against.&lt;p&gt;As someone who just witnessed a mass-layoff, I wonder how much better off the employees might be if they had someone on their side, negotiating severance, notice periods etc.&lt;p&gt;Everything a union does is paid for out of member dues. They don&amp;#x27;t have infinite resources to spend in constant legal battles challenging the clearly legal firing of a shitty employee, and if the did waste member dues like that, they&amp;#x27;d quickly find themselves no members. If the union isn&amp;#x27;t representing your interests, just leave it. It&amp;#x27;ll quickly run out of members and money and become toothless.</text></comment>
<story><title>Kickstarter doubles down on its anti-union stance</title><url>https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/09/kickstarter-to-workers-and-project-creators-drop-dead</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>baron816</author><text>If a tech company I worked for unionized, I would leave. I’m not in a single company town where everyone has worked at the same place their entire lives. Tech companies face fierce competition for talent, and it has worked out quite nicely for the employees.&lt;p&gt;I wouldn’t want some outside organization coming in and forcing me to pay dues, demanding changes to the structure of the company, devaluing my equity, and making it impossible to fire poor performers that make my job harder.</text></item><item><author>SomeOtherThrow</author><text>The lack of unions in the industry is making me leave. It’s going to leave out many of its current employees to dry: I want something better than the word of an entrepreneur.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>songerik</author><text>It seems pretty shallow to pin the qualities of an unhealthy union on all unions. Some unions are great, others are not, and healthy unions only require one simple ingredient: maintenance and attention, like most things.&lt;p&gt;Unions are just an avenue for bargaining. In my experience, which has only been in a healthy union with people who take an interest in the value it provides, it has been so liberating! It encourages us to discuss things in the open that would have always been closed-door conversations before, and I never worry about whether I am being taken advantage of. I honestly don’t even make much money for a software engineer, but I love the domain I work in and having the union has made my work relationships just feel less exploitative. It feels less like work.</text></comment>