Comment by mhuffman | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mhuffman | Hacker News Reader

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> Keep in mind, that with a proper front for labor to negotiate with firms, compensation is kept at a fair market level.

I have only seen unions bring about a high level of pay for mediocrity, while overpaying for low-skill jobs and underpaying for high-skill jobs.

Go to many union firms and the janitors and the engineers make within a few dollars per hour of each other.

You can recruit janitors off of the street, and their pay (while I argue , should be livable) should reflect that. You can not do the same for engineers or anyone that needs any amount of expertise or training.

However, since unions run on mob mentality, if the engineers want a raise, they have to convince everyone that they all deserve more money.

Are you a rock star, saving or making the company big bucks? Too bad bitch, bonuses are out -- can't show favoritism!

Are you super lazy and only want to do the very basic minimum of your job requirements and not a bit more? Congratulations, unions are for you!

I have never been impressed with a union firm. All of the things that they truly helped with (no child labor, OSHA, minimum wage) are all law now anyway.

You have a caricature of unions in your mind that does not match reality.

If you excel, you are given the options for up negotiating your pay. You are given the option to negotiate your bonuses, supplementary pay, time off and what not.

If you're a "rockstar", congratulations! Your union has raised the bottom from which you can up negotiate your compensation. Your union will also advocate for things you, as a rockstar super employee, never will be able to. Like your benefits, working conditions and base pay.

If the engineers want to raise base pay, they're in an engineering union. They have no one to convince, but have the clout to make it happen.

If the engineers at firm X want a raise, they can negotiate with their employer for compensation with the added bonus of a higher base pay to negotiate from. They also have the added benefit of having the union advocate on their behalf if they choose.

You haven't worked with a good union. Good unions are known for their quality and skilled professionals, just like good companies are for their products.

I have worked at three companies for the Teamsters, and can say unequivocally that they all held me back professionally while keeping people that should not have a job employed.

I have never been able to, nor do I personally know any union workers that can negotiate an individual bonus.

> If you're a "rockstar", congratulations! Your union has raised the bottom from which you can up negotiate your compensation. Your union will also advocate for things you, as a rockstar super employee, never will be able to. Like your benefits, working conditions and base pay.

No they will use my "rockstar" work to negotiate better benefits for all of the employees, as those with more seniority than me enjoy the better benefits and protections even within the union, do to my "rockstar" status. Why should that be?

> You haven't worked with a good union. Good unions are known for their quality and skilled professionals, just like good companies are for their products.

You seem to know a lot about me, somehow. Show me any modern American union, and I can promise you I will show you how they are holding back their company and better employees for the sake of the mediocrity.

I live in an area of the country that still has plenty of unions, and I have witnessed it time and again, as an employee and an observer.

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