Hacker News Reader

Comment by oh_sigh | Hacker News Reader

I'm fine with unions if they are voluntary, but not if I'm forced to join, forced to strike, forced to pay dues even if I'm not involved, and forced to not seek employment at a place under strike through threats of violence.

View on HN

Just to clarify, are you saying, "I would like the collective to bargain on my behalf, but I just don't want to be part of that collective"?

Isn't mandatory membership a simple corollary of unionization efforts?

I'm not in favor of mandatory membership, but on the other hand if someone chooses not to be a member and is subsequently mistreated by management, there's no reason for the union to assist them and they shouldn't receive any benefits established through collective bargaining agreements.

> they shouldn't receive any benefits established through collective bargaining agreements.

Why not? I can just demand that my contract looks the same as the unions, anything wrong with that?

You can demand all you want, and your manager can respond with 'LOL no you're not worth that much'.

Then if you think you are worth that much, you can call their bluff and go somewhere else. And what happens in the union scenario? The manager hires an unproductive person for exactly the same wages?

Maybe you can, maybe you can't. If you don't want to support the people you work with then they have little motivation to support you in return if you find yourself treated poorly by the firm or a bad manager. I suggest you revisit the context in which the question was asked in the first place.

What would you do if you don't get your demands? Strike as an individual?

> I would like the collective to bargain on my behalf

No, What I would like is that other people are free to collectively bargain on their own behalf, and their own behalf alone, and I am free to bargain individually for myself, without their "help" or obligations.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com