Comment by theravengod | Hacker News Reader

Comment by theravengod | Hacker News Reader

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WTH? Most people here don't know recent US history anymore ? Just look at what unions did to the people of Detroit ?

Sure, on paper it seems like a good idea to fight the rich company to give employees a bigger share of the profit, but do remember: it's not the employee that decides how much profit is enough for the company to have. If the investors/CEO/boss doesn't feel the profit is enough, they/he/she can close the company. Unions always will protect the weaker worker (regardless of the domain) and subtract value form the better workers.

If some employees don't like what Google is doing, they can protest (as they did). Also they can leave. Twisting the arm of the boss to give you more, when has that worked in the long run ?

Bay Area SWE from Flint, MI here.

> on paper it seems like a good idea to fight the rich company to give employees a bigger share of the profit

That is explicitly a non-goal of this union.

> Just look at what unions did to the people of Detroit

Let's say for argument's sake that the UAW wasn't formed, the Great Sitdown Strike just lead to policy changes (hard to imagine after how they were treated). Do you think the auto companies would have been as successful without the quality of life the UAW afforded its members? Anecdotally, my uneducated grandfather immigrated to the states for one of those jobs. Do you think that the auto companies still wouldn't have moved production overseas to maximize their profits? Even without the UAW, a job in Mexico still paid a fraction of an American job in the 70s.

> Also they can leave

If your gripe is that your work is now being used in a context you find ethically wrong (like Project Maven), moving companies doesn't solve the problem. Voting with your feet doesn't make any positive change, it just leaves you at the least problematic workplace.

> Twisting the arm of the boss to give you more, when has that worked in the long run ?

I don't know. I guess when it resulted in political action like the 40hr 5dy workweek? Honestly, I don't know though.

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