this post was submitted on 09 May 2024
637 points (98.6% liked)
Technology
59581 readers
2886 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
You would be mortified at how many people in big tech, including those that have directly experienced injustice or unfair treatment at work, simply want no part of a tech union.
Frankly, some industries absolutely need it (e.g. games). If they'll put up with what they put up with and still choose not to unionize I don't really know how software engineers will...
Oh I'm aware, am part of the industry. I think the disparately higher compensation relative to the rest of the economy has given us a false idea we're paid fairly (perhaps even unfairly high) for what we produce. Which I have definitely felt myself. In fact I've felt very strange of the disparities within the industry itself. However that's completely the wrong way to look at it. There's no magical upper number that our labor deserves. Everything is determined by what people pay and how much they buy. (I'm not saying that's the only way it should be) So if the revenues and profits are sky high, and we know labor makes most of it happen, then our labor is simply worth that much more. Given that someone will collect the difference, we may as well get a larger share of it. The sooner we recognize that, the sooner we'll get even higher compensation which will be much more beneficial for people in the wider economy than a much smaller proportion of the exec class getting wealthier. But that can't happen without unions. We mistake the temporary labor shortage for stable and strong negotiation leverage.