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Comment by adrianN | Hacker News Reader

Where I work, the union would get rather angry if someone continuously works overtime and your supervisor would get a stern talking to. Some overtime is okay, for more overtime you need to get explicit permission, and I think there is a hard ceiling around 70 hours a week.

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ultimately, this is why people are uneasy about unions.

Where we work we also have rules about working over time but when deliveries come we can if we want to, and even more then the limit set by HR. We then give it to our boss who writes it down in a book and we can take special work leave later when the stress is down. No one finds out. Always ways around things.

What if I secretly kept coding at home?

You would quit in a few days in a union shop because it doesn't align with your personality. They expect clock punchers and care more about process/seniority rather than productivity.

People who want to complete tasks with ruthless efficiency will struggle immensely with the waste at union (and government) orgs.

Sorry for the rant, but you're question isn't worth worrying about because people that would want to work from home wouldn't be working in a union shop that barred work.

Did you work in a company with a union? Because what you write is not true in my experience. We most definitely don't care more about process or seniority than productivity. Compenent, productive people get promoted.

The union working rules make sense for the company. It's not sustainable to work that much. Worker burnout and churn is bad for the company. Fostering a culture that forces people to work until they drop if they want to get ahead is toxic.

You're free to do what you want on your own time of course. The important difference is that the company can't expect you to work more. This prevents a culture of overtime from developing.

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