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0 pointsdrb917y ago0 comments

> fair workplaces

What is this?

EDIT: I don't mean to snark, it just seems like an inherently utopian ideal. Material concerns should dictate workspace conflict resolution. I certainly agree with your overall statement.

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bargl7y ago· 2 in thread

Yikes, I read my original post and I think yeah, you're right. I mean "more fair workplace". And fair being for both employee and employer. That's why I think competition would be important, as long as we can avoid a race to the bottom situation it might make unions more relevant.

repolfx7y ago

I think what he/she was getting at is that "fair" isn't defined (by you).

My notion of a fair workplace is one where people's pay and rewards are entirely determined by their skill and merit, as judged by the management.

But lots of other people and especially unions define it totally differently: one where people's pay is determined by tenure, their union contract or their gender/race. That seems to be what these Kickstarter employees want.

Without a clear definition the word 'fair' can be interpreted as having polar opposite meanings.

notSupplied7y ago

What really disappoints me is when unions make demands unrelated to pay or work conditions, but to restricting competition. See LA teachers union and their demands to cap charter schools. This is a direct demand to punish teachers who are not part of unions. This is a stark reminder that unions is a "fight coercion with more coercion" solution.

It is important to remember that economic coerciveness is a result of overwhelming scale and bargaining power of one party over another. Kickstarter is a 100-ish headcount company located in Brooklyn, NY. This is hardly a captive employee pool compared to say, factory workers in a small town whose entire economy is centered around that one factory.

If Kickstarter workers unionize, I don't not believe it will results in two sides with equal bargaining power, Kickstarter will be in a substantially weaker position. If Kickstarter refuses the offer, all function ceases. If the workers refuses the offer, they have the robust job market of Brooklyn NY to fall back on.

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