[Discuss] Discuss - Software Engineering union

[blu at nedharvey.com (Edward Ned Harvey)]

> From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org [mailto:discuss-
> bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org] On Behalf Of Mark Woodward
> 
> I come from a blue-collar background, my dad was a union iron worker.

I recognize that sometimes unions do good things.  Whenever a company is too
greedy, and exploits the employees too much.  But unions are also sometimes
bad.

I am close to someone who works at a restaurant, which is part of a hotel.
Staffing is done through the hotel, and the majority of hotel employees are
housekeeping.  (Foreign, generally non-english speaking, paid certainly
minimum wage or better, but the point is, it's a low-paying job.)  But in
the restaurant, they have well paid chefs and etc.  But when you unionize,
you can't just unionize a few - it's all or nothing.  The union came in,
made vague promises of better pay and better work conditions, and
housekeeping voted to unionize.

I can't say whether or not housekeeping has benefited, but I can say with
certainty, it has sucked in the restaurant.  One guy took the restarant
vodka and got drunk while cooking in the kitchen.  Dangerous, and worse.  He
was fired.  He took issue with the union, because he can only be fired for
"just cause," which means in effect, somebody needs to gather evidence as if
it's a criminal trial.  Everyone knew he was drunk, but now he's saying he
wasn't.  It seems coincidental that the vodka bottle disappeared from the
store room at the same time it appeared half gone near his workstation, his
breath reeking of alcohol, and obviously impaired...  But he says he had
nothing to do with it, and somebody was smelling something else, and he was
behaving perfectly fine.

There's also this concept of "restaurant week," where all the restaurants
are crazy busy.  Well, one dishwasher simply didn't show up for a week.  No
call, no nothing.  After restaurant week was over, he had his wife call from
Florida, to say his grandfather had passed, and they would be staying in Fla
for another week.  I can understand bereavement, but there's no excuse for
not calling, and ... length of time ... and "It's not my fault it happened
at the beginning of restaurant week."

The union promised all sorts of things like "regular raises," and "better
health insurance."  So first of all, "better" health insurance is a relative
term.  Previously, it was a high deductible health plan + health saving plan
+ matching contributions to HSP.  Moving forward, it's a full-health plan.
Guess what, the full-health plan is better for some, while the HDHP is
better for others.  Because the HSP could be used for vision & dental
overages & deductibles... physical therapy, acupuncture, massage and other
forms of therapy, whereas those things are simply out-of-pocket on the
"full" plan.  Also, with the HSP, you save your funds lifelong and you keep
it when you retire.  Unlike the full plan, where you're uncovered as soon
(or soon thereafter) as your unemployed.  At an old age, you either have
something you've saved up your whole life, or you have nothing.  But anyone
who has high expenses this year would be better having the full plan this
year.  The upshot is:  Each type of plan is better for some.  It's not fair
to simply promise "better" health insurance.  The union sales force is being
deceitful.  They don't get paid unless your organization decides to
unionize.  The union workers are not unbiased about your decision, and not
above lying to get your patronage.  Once you're unionized, it's extremely
hard to get out.

The upshot of the "better pay" is that the restaurant now has a maximum wage
they're able to offer newhires, and the work schedule is assigned based on
seniority.  End result, whenever they have an entry-level position to fill,
they do ok filling it, but whenever they have an upper-level position to
fill, it goes unfilled.  The head chef left for another restaurant some time
ago, and they can't offer a competitive package to acquire a new head chef.
But they can't leave the position open - So they hire somebody who's not
qualified to be there.  Everybody who works there can see this.  They all
formerly had aspirations for career paths and learning opportunities, but
now they feel there's no way they can learn anything or improve themselves
any more, because their superior(s) are not superior.

Long story short, IMHO:

Unions are good when workers are over-exploited.
Unions are bad when the fair market is actually fair.

What makes the fair market actually fair?  Low barrier to entry for small
organizations.  If the whole market is dominated by a huge company, then
maybe the union might be good.  But if a small group of skilled workers
could go out on their own, form a small company and be successful...  Then
the union is ultimately a negative.  IMHO.