Hacker News Reader

Comment by pxue | Hacker News Reader

Here's my question about unions and worker controlled workplaces.. What happens when the entire shop becomes uncompetitive?

It's the same as when a country is happily going about their day and suddenly tanks show up at your door because someone else wants what you have.

that's just human nature, I don't see a way around it.

View on HN

I don't believe it's human nature. I believe it's decades of prioritizing profits over civic results – we've warped our culture to the point of valuing monetary progress/success over humanity itself.

I'm sure this sounds very bleeding heart, but as a business owner, I'd rather give up stake in my own business to keep my employees and their families fed rather than opt for automation, firing my employees, and sitting in an empty office with piles of cash.

Business owners and shareholders need to learn empathy and start valuing the community at large over their own narrow interests.

To answer your question, though: I don't know.

The U.S. is an owner/exec-first economy, with labor holding very little political power. "At will" employment and "Right to Work" are inherently anti-union policies and although some states have successfully beat them back (Missouri for example), a majority of the country's labor is still without ways to organize.

It's a chicken and egg problem. A unionized shop probably couldn't compete against a full automated shop (depending on the industry). So until _most_ shops are unionized – which won't happen with rulings like Janus – it's almost an impossible task to organize the working class.