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Comment by pacificat0r | Hacker News Reader

Could someone help me understand what an union could do vs the abuses presented as examples in the article? In my limited experience, from my parents(not US) unions are mostly some sort of barganing power for salaries in various industries but stop at that.

For example, could a union stop the payout of that high-level exec that was eventually shown the door for harrasment with a good bonus?

After that, they are also mostly like various subscriptions that you forget you have, as memberships require pay. In this beautiful part of the world you would even sometimes pressured to pay and join as if you're not a union member can have consequences that are unwanted.

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> For example, could a union stop the payout of that high-level exec that was eventually shown the door for harrasment with a good bonus?

No. Unions protect workers, not the business.

> In this beautiful part of the world you would even sometimes pressured to pay and join as if you're not a union member can have consequences that are unwanted.

Are you a citizen of your nation and do you pay taxes? Just as a nation protects its citizens in exchange for taxes, a union protects its members in exchange for dues. Everyone has to participate for the system to reasonably work.

> No. Unions protect workers, not the business.

To protect the workers, they also have to protect the jobs, which means they have to also protect the company.

Finding the right balance there is tough and one of the greatest challenges.

That depends on the union. A miner's union doesn't need to protect all mining companies, just the ones that treat their employees best. Your argument only holds if the union is specific to one company.

A minor's union has to make sure that all their members, thus more or less all miners, keep their work.

It doesn't neccissarily have to keep all mining companies alive, but if it would consolidate into a single mining company with (initially) good conditions it can't be in the union's interest as then all mining employment power is in one place.

They have to find the right balance.

>In this beautiful part of the world you would even sometimes pressured to pay and join as if you're not a union member can have consequences that are unwanted.

This is to address the free rider problem inherent in unions. How do you ensure workers who get the benefits also share in the costs/work - especially when management are trying to encourage free riders?

Pretty much all free rider problems are dealt with with the group pressuring the free rider in some way.

Why is it bad to be forced to pay union dues if I'd rather not, but fine for me to be forced to pass on the profits I generate to shareholders when I'd rather not?

> For example, could a union stop the payout of that high-level exec that was eventually shown the door for harrasment with a good bonus?

Yes. As unions represent workers and carry barganing power, they ask (or demand) companies to change their policies around all sort of topics.

For example, tech workers can push for ethical considerations around AI/ML, or to stay out of military contracts especially around weapons, cut the bonuses to questionable execs...

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