[xyzzy123]

Part of being in a union tends to be lawyering up and "nailing down" exactly what everyone's duties in detail and what fair compensation might be, and what terms / conditions might be etc.

Personally I don't think they're a great fit for the software industry where the nature of the job and the details are continuously changing as technology evolves.

[int_19h]

That's not an intrinsic part of being in a union, just a particular way they have been implemented in US.

The fundamental point of the union is to be able to negotiate as a group. That is valuable regardless of the industry.

[xyzzy123]

But what are you negotiating about? What do all tech workers have in common that wouldn't be better addressed with top level regulations like "right to disconnect"?

[bdangubic]

- maternity leave

- paternity leave

- overtime

- not having to answer a call or email outside of work hours

- workman’s comp / short/long-term disability for issues with my back or wrists or eyes or…

- about 100 more things

[gottorf]

The outsized pay for software engineers in the US takes into account a lot of this stuff. Would you trade those 100 things for, say, a salary of $75k a year for a senior software engineer, like they have in Europe?

[oblio]

Meh. The rest of the world also doesn't have big salaries for software devs. The US is the outlier.

It's not just the labor regulations holding Europe back, it's the lack of funding due to not having a unified European digital market.

Netflix Europe needs to have 20+ licensing deals. Selling across Europe at a large scale requires interactions with 20+ legal teams. Language and cultural barriers kill a lot of things.

How do US giants thrive in Europe, then?

Because they come in directly giant-sized based on growth in the US. They either ignore European legal compliance until sued or pay peanuts for them to handle all the legal aspects.

[xyzzy123]

All those sorts of protections seem like they make sense for every worker rather than being "tech" specific. I do understand that collective bargaining could help with carving out sector-specific deals, though.

I wonder if there is a difference in context that explains why we might disagree. I'm in Australia where I think it's politically easier to "add" broad top level protections for all workers than it would be in the US.

[mwigdahl]

Yeah, the legal framework (Taft-Hartley) in the US is pretty explicit about banning general strikes and solidarity strikes. A union can organize within a single industry but not beyond that.

[parpfish]

tech unions should be pushing for condemnation, which is the process of getting employees seats on the corporate board

[parpfish]

just saw that my phone keyboard corrected 'codetermination' to 'condemnation', which... lol

[CamperBob2]

So 105 reasons for management to move as many jobs to AI as possible, as soon as possible. Got it.

[bdangubic]

spoken like a true corporate slave, well done!!

[CamperBob2]

Slaves are usually happy to lose their jobs.