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    labracadabradorHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:01pm

    So some of the best compensated employees in the world should unionize to accomplish what exactly? Protest unfair conditions in their beautiful state of the art offices? Protest not having their Herman Miller Aeron chairs replaced frequently enough? No no, to protest the cafeteria providing free Starbucks instead of a local micro roast coffee?

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      cepalglabracadabrador
      3/07/16 12:07pm

      Same thing baseball players unionized to do.

      “We make pretty good money.”
      “By the numbers, our bosses are still totally ripping us off.”
      “We deserve more than the bare minimum they think they can get away with paying us, and we have the resources to get it.”

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      KomradKickasslabracadabrador
      3/07/16 12:08pm

      So they can totally know how coal miners feel, and you know get where they are coming from.

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    burnerburneradinfiburnerHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:02pm

    That seems like a dangerous industry to unionize in, wouldn’t it hasten outsourcing / H1Bification?

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      bruschetteburnerburneradinfiburner
      3/07/16 12:07pm

      With some of the shitty salaries I’ve seen for jobs over the last 5 years, I’ve been wondering why tech workers don’t unionize. Then I wonder exactly what you said and how long it would take before companies to dump state-side workers for staff overseas

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      bbutle01burnerburneradinfiburner
      3/07/16 12:07pm

      And seeing that IT work is SO EASY to send overseas I think it would be terrible. You can’t outsource a bus driver but you sure as hell can outsource a programmer or service desk tech.

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    CaptainButtersHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:04pm

    Hamilton you are starting to venture into Howard Hughes territory with your views. I was on board with most of them until I read this. Are we out of material? Will we see an article about how the 1% should unionize to combat the sheer numbers of the 99% who aren’t 1%?

    Or can you just repost the Hulkamania sex tape?

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      Vitamin VCaptainButters
      3/07/16 12:07pm
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      the johnCaptainButters
      3/07/16 12:22pm

      There is no industry in which workers would not realize some benefit by unionizing.

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    OptionCHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:16pm

    As a SV tech worker who gets >30% of his annual compensation in various forms of equity (RSUs & very generous ESPP discounts), why exactly would I want to come down on the side of labor over capital (from a self interested PoV)? A union that tries to bleed my employer dry would reduce my upside quite substantially.

    Also, union contracts tend to impose the sort of work rules that may be functional in a manufacturing environment but aren’t going to fly with most SV engineers. Sometimes I work 2 hours a day, sometime I work 12. Sometimes I go into the office, sometimes I don’t. Every so often, I’ll just take 2 weeks off on a whim. It’s all kind of free-form and I quite like it that way

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      Rev Les CrowleyOptionC
      3/07/16 1:07pm

      One question: how old are you?

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      Hamilton NolanOptionC
      3/07/16 1:36pm

      -“why exactly would I want to come down on the side of labor over capital (from a self interested PoV)?” If your only PoV is self interest, I feel sad for you. I guess within that framework: you say 70% of your compensation is not from stock options, but from salary. That’s why.

      -Union contracts don’t include any work rules that you, the union members, don’t ask for. You can leave all that shit out and just use the union to collectively bargain if you choose.

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    carpetboxerHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:12pm

    Skilled tech work is arguably the most perfect labor market in the country, but there are still exploitative practices and collusion which impact that market. Unionization would be one way to address this.

    Revealed: Apple and Google’s wage-fixing cartel involved dozens more companies, over one million employees

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      whatisuptampacarpetboxer
      3/07/16 12:33pm

      Haha, you’re kidding right? Unions conspire with management to keep wages stable and slowly moving. You don’t see a UAW worker jumping from GM to Ford for 25% more for the same job

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      carpetboxerwhatisuptampa
      3/07/16 12:51pm

      Part of the reason wages are unstable is because of price-fixing and collusion. My guess is that a tech union would be more nimble than UAW. What is your suggestion to stem wage-fixing and collusion?

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    WhatthefoxsaysHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:09pm

    The tech workers you are referring to are most likely making more money from stock options than salary. Unionizing programmers and engineers would most likely *kill* their company’s stock price and make those options worthless.

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      TomatoBurnerWhatthefoxsays
      3/07/16 12:37pm

      Horseshit.

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      Donald PumpWhatthefoxsays
      3/07/16 1:07pm

      “Unionizing programmers and engineers would most likely *kill* their company’s stock price and make those options worthless.”

      What is this nonsense. As long as a company remains profitable investors will still buy the stock. Apple isn’t going to stop selling iPhones in droves and making money hand over fist because of a union.

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    SpenglerHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:44pm

    Megalomaniac libertarians spouting borderline Nietzchean arguments about Great Men Accomplishing Great Things

    Could you link us to some of those? I’d love to see all of the quotes you are referencing. I’m guessing there are more than one or two to cause such a backlash, etc. Would be great to read some of the Nietschean arguments you are talking about, probably very interesting.

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      Hamilton NolanSpengler
      3/07/16 1:41pm

      https://twitter.com/pmarca

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      Lil TuffySpengler
      3/07/16 1:48pm

      If only valleywag were still kicking...

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    Rev Les CrowleyHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:02pm

    I’ve been saying for years that the failure of unions to organize white collar workers (apart from education/government) was their greatest failure.

    (Could I get a follow)

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      Larry BrackinsRev Les Crowley
      3/07/16 1:41pm

      True on a wide scale, but two of the few unions that are still growing are IFPTE and OPEIU, two unions that deal primarily with white-collar workers.

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      Join the Grey SideRev Les Crowley
      3/08/16 9:28am

      Because government and education unions are a shining example of what unions should be, right?

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    GinAndTonic Got Stuck in the Barney (and the greys)Hamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:19pm

    As someone who lives in Silicon Valley and who also is part of union, fuck that. These workers have more money, perks, and benefits than most people in this country, and their already-bloated compensation raises rents, increases costs, and pushes people who don’t earn hefty 6-figure incomes into the margins. THOSE people need to organize.

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      Eugene GaltonGinAndTonic Got Stuck in the Barney (and the greys)
      3/07/16 1:10pm

      stop complaining. learn to program. get out of your shitty fucking union. start here —-> http://www.lynda.com/search?q=node.…

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      GinAndTonic Got Stuck in the Barney (and the greys)Eugene Galton
      3/07/16 1:59pm

      Okay, moron. I work in engineering and am more educated than you are. And I probably make more than you do. My union is awesome.

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    Johnny ChundersHamilton Nolan
    3/07/16 12:04pm

    Organize to end crunch time. If the project cannot be completed without excessive overtime, management should have planned better and you shouldn’t be responsible to make it up.

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      VerklemptomaniacJohnny Chunders
      3/07/16 12:14pm

      This. Salary isn’t the only thing unions negotiate for - for most tech workers, it would be primarily working conditions. A limit on crunch time? A way to prevent the sort of psychotic, nonsensical personnel evalaution systems we’ve seen at some companies? Protections from retaliation for taking maternity/paternity/sick leave?

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      lena dunhams boobsJohnny Chunders
      3/07/16 1:10pm

      This practice blows my mind. It basically goes completely against any legitimate concept of project management and agile development out there, yet it happens ALL THE FUCKING TIME typically because people are too scared to tell their bosses no, cutting the release time 5 months is not a good thing and will result in you putting out a shitty product you then have to spend MORE money explaining to people why it was a shitty product.

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