Comment by beardedetim | Hacker News Reader

Comment by beardedetim | Hacker News Reader

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> Why should developers unionize? I love not being in a union. If my company starts dicking me around I'll quit and find another job.

Why does the former preclude the latter?

> Besides, if I do something so bad my boss wants to fire me, fine then I'll go work somewhere where people want me.

What if you didn't do _anything_ and your boss wants to fire you so badly? What if your boss fired you over Zoom randomly without any recourse?

> The only time unions make sense is when you're doing labor that could be done by anyone and your bus factor is basically infinite.

I disagree with this point. A union makes sense for anyone that is working for a wage. It makes sense to me to work together for all of our benefit rather than me to try to go up against those that pay my wage alone.

Put it another way, I do not think that I can argue well enough to get the actual value that I produce back in my pocket and would love if we all banded together and said "We deserve this much of the value we produce" instead.

I’m a SWE at a FAANG company and hell no I don’t want a union. I busted my ass to get here and I’m compensated for it. I want my destiny in my control. Not some other large entity that probably doesn’t have my best interests at heart.

> What if your boss fired you over Zoom randomly without any recourse?

They can do that even with a union. The difference with a union is that they can collectively stop working if the employer violated a clause like "union members must be fired with reasoning pre-approved by the union", and then the employer either needs to find new employees for every person that was in the union or needs to re-negotiate terms with the union, likely including reparations ie. re-hiring the coworker.

A union makes sense for anyone that is working for a wage but that doesn't mean people have to want to be in one. Adding a union adds a bunch of extra politics and brainpower to the advent of getting your job done, and that's not for everyone.

>They can do that even with a union. The difference with a union is that they can collectively stop working if the employer violated a clause like "union members must be fired with reasoning pre-approved by the union", and then the employer either needs to find new employees for every person that was in the union or needs to re-negotiate terms with the union, likely including reparations ie. re-hiring the coworker.

But that potential response by the union should be enough of an incentive that casually firing somebody over Zoom for no reason is removed from the employer's SOP.

> What if you didn't do _anything_ and your boss wants to fire you so badly? What if your boss fired you over Zoom randomly without any recourse?

The same as what GP said "If my company starts dicking me around I'll quit and find another job". If I'm no longer wanted at my job, I'll find another one.

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