top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 58 points 4 days ago (1 child)

The statement is true. You have to create your own job.

After unionizing I have noticed that there aren't really many jobs worth applying to. Most jobs advertised are worse than what I already have.

It's not just about the pay. To me it's more about the company "growing up" and acknowledging the need to balance the relationship between management and the qualified personnel, instead of viewing employees as unskilled servants.

The reason I couldn't find a job like that before is pretty clear. We also don't post job openings on the web anymore. First of all we don't have a lot of people quitting, but we also have plenty of qualified union members to choose from when we do have vacancies.

The way I see it, unionization is primarily an upgrade for the company. It's not just access to qualified personnel. It also cuts out a lot of the bullshit conflicts between management and employees, because there are general agreements on a lot more things.

If they want employees to take the company serious, they need to treat their employees seriously.

Throwing pizza parties and threatening low paid unskilled workers with arbitrary management decisions or making random bonuses and shit doesn't achieve anything like this. It's a complete waste of time in comparison to having a proper clear union agreement.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 3 days ago

    Unionisation as a company upgrade is exactly how we in Australia achieved a huge productivity boom in the 90s without wages growing too fast or stagnating. Howard fucked that up in the 2000s in the name of business and both wages and productivity growth stalled.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 30 points 3 days ago (5 children)

    Here's what does not make sense to me, my dad was in the heavy equipment operators union for 50 some years, his entire working life after he got out of the military and after he retired (with a union pension mind you) then he fucking backs all the Republican anti union assholes. Like what! Why would you support those who are actively trying to do away with worker protections? Well now he's passed on and that same union is providing spousal benefits for my mom. At least she's not supporting these assholes

  • source
  • hideshow 10 child comments
  • [–] 20 points 3 days ago (1 child)
  • [–] 9 points 3 days ago* (5 children)

    I'll never understand why the left (all of it, dems leftist, liberals) have not done counter propaganda. Like we should have been actively deprogramming these people but the left is too busy fighting amongst themselves and waiting for the perfect candidates whose ideologies align with everyone's beliefs to come along and make everything work flawlessly.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 9 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago

    You understand that propaganda costs money (and by extension, a person's time), right?

    The right has all the money, the left has none. The right has the backing of big media empires, the left has none. A lot of us on the left are too busy just trying to survive in this capitalistic hellscape, and even we did make some "counter-propaganda" as you say, it certainly won't be picked up by the media and/or it won't be taken seriously by an already brainwashed audience.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago

    DNC holds the funds to do the real mainstream advertising campaigns and anyone farther to the left is left with internet memes. Well, mainstream media is being viewed with less and less trust everyday.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago

    Because explaining the cause and effect of a real problem is much harder than pointing to an out group and saying "everyone that's not you is a bag guy"

    Propaganda works because it creates enemies. When the real problem is more complicated, it takes a lot more work to explain.

    Even if your message is "billionaires are bad" that's a group that people think they want to be a member of, which makes it hard to get behind.

    It's much easier to point to people without power and say "you don't want to be them, you don't want to be around them, let's get rid of them"

  • source
  • parent
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • [–] 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    My Dad was a firefighter for 35 years. He was a union man working a public sector job. He had a great retirement due to his union and his pension.

    Yet somehow he votes MAGA and thinks public spending and unions are evil.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    How? How do they believe this m I'll never understand

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 8 points 3 days ago*

    Because it impact someone else.

    Studies have shown that there's a difference between rural and urban people. Rural people have to defend themselves from strangers, so they're vary wary of strangers. They have to help each other to survive, so if you know them and they know you, they'll give you the shirt off their back. So they're scared of the "other". This means it's easy to manipulate them to hate people that don't look like them or believe the things they do.

    And then something happens and they meet a person of color who saves them or helps them, and THAT person of color is now in the 'family' - a safe person to them. But all the OTHER strangers are dangers.

    It's not like urban is completely different. You are SURROUNDED by strangers, and you all have to get along to survive. Stand on the correct side of the escalator so those walking up can do so. Don't say howdy to every stranger because you'd quickly go hoarse. But of course if someone is in trouble, the crowd will (a lot of the time) help them - call 911 for resources.

    Neither of them is perfect on the good stuff I mentioned, but the point is that rural are accustomed to helping those they know, and urban are accustomed to helping strangers. It's just a core basic difference. edit: forgot one of my conclusory points on this: So rural types are accustomed to being around people and ideas that match their own, whereas urban types are accustomed to being around people and ideas wildly different from their own.

    And it's not completely determined by where you live, just your beliefs, how you were raised, et cetera.

    Conservatives believe the world is full of rules that protect them from The Other gaining control over them and enslaving them or whatever evils they imagine. But then once they experience some exception - abortion is evil until their little girl gets pregnant and needs and abortion but that's an EXCEPTION and abortion is still MURDER just not for my little girl who actually NEEDED one.

    So you'll find sometimes that these exceptions poke little holes in the conservative belief system they hold - this one hates people of color and immigration but their kid had drug problems and ended up in prison so they believe in prison reform. But their neightbor doesn't believe in prison reform because nothing affected THEM that way.

    All of my above isn't totally accurate, certainly not across the board, but it is a general thrust in a large part of the problem. A similar discussion can be had about individualistic societies vs collectivistic societies with some similar talking points. There are some advantages and disadvantages to each.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Perhaps he was of the mindset that he would've been better off without the Union.

    I used to work with auto mechanics that were in a union and some of them did not want to be. They thought they wouldve been better off not paying the Union dues.

    I can almost guarantee they were better off in the union but these guys seemed mostly Republican.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago

    Unions need to spend a little bit of time advocating for themselves.

    Hold a mandatory meeting occasionally (on the clock) showing what they are pushing for and what they got from the company.

    If they're not doing that, either the union is no longer effective, or it's not communicating with their workers. Union heads absolutely must be talking to the front line workers constantly, otherwise fox news will.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago*

    I had a civics teacher in high school who claimed that unions served a purpose when they began, but were obsolete now... with the exception of teacher's unions! He was just a conservative stooge, I wonder if he simply forgot about Police Unions.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 37 points 4 days ago (4 children)

    Fuck me, I either need to join a better union or move to NYC and become a housekeeper.

  • source
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 26 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    100k in NYC is a basic living necessity. Unless you are frugal, anything less and you will be going in the red most months trying to pay all your bills and rent.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Yep this is correct. About the same in Toronto.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (6 children)

    https://www.zillow.com/manhattan-new-york-ny/apartments-1-bedrooms/2_p/

    1 bedroom, from what I saw at a quick glance, $2900-7000 / month.

    Edit: I searched "1br apartment nyc" and posted the results here. I did not pick manhattan. I know very little about NYC. I was not trying to pick the most expensive.

    Here is Brooklyn, and the first result is $3,400.

    The Bronx, first result is $2,600.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] 6 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Accurate. But to soften the blow a bit, two things often left out of the story that are sort of particular to this city:

    1. When you’re surrounded by third spaces and cheap food, studios can be more livable than elsewhere.
    2. Roommate living is way more common here since it’s the only reliable way to score sub-sub-market rent (like well below studio prices) which means a lot more options to choose from than in most cities. Also a useful hack for new arrivals who want a few months to scope out different neighborhoods before settling.
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments (4 replies)
  • [–] 13 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    Cost of living is a big factor here. 100k in NYC is comparable to 50k in the Midwest. Stepping outside in NYC feels like it costs 100 dollars every time you do it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Stepping outside in NYC feels like it costs 100 dollars every time you do it.

    I feel the opposite, because I just walk places instead of driving. Not having a car is a big savings!

    I got my monthly food budget around $100/month for a bit when I was unemployed.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 3 days ago

    Yeah, no car is huge. Also, while there's obviously very expensive restaurants, there's also a lot of very inexpensive street food options all over the place that other "less expensive cities" don't have. One can get extremely reasonably priced groceries in Chinatown. It's not all bad in NYC.

  • source
  • parent
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 19 points 3 days ago (3 children)

    Unions can be a problem if it's just another set of bosses who are seeking to profit from the system. So like being in a HOA where you let the dipshit homebodies with nothing better to do get in charge and start fining everyone.

    You have to stand up and be involved. It's not easy, but it means that instead of being you against HR by yourself, it's you and all your buddies against HR on your behalf.

    In the best case scenario, it provides a way for the company managerment to hear ideas from the employees - because a good company listens. Treat your people right and they will look for ways to make things work better and increase your profits. So it's in your best interest. Treat your employees like shit and that is what you'll get out of them.

  • source
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 3 days ago (3 children)

    It takes a long time and a concerted effort to morph a healthy union into what's basically organized crime (see: police "unions").

    Otherwise, unions are just groups of people. People can be corrupt, and healthy unions have mechanisms and safeguards for excising that corruption.

    The F.O.P. isn't created overnight. It's built on generation upon generation of corrupt cops covering for each other. That is not a union, that's a gang.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • load more comments (3 replies)
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 29 points 4 days ago (2 children)

    And is there anything particularly unique about the labor environment in NYC?

  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 32 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    Mostly the cost of living there. 100k in NYC is closer to what 60k would be like in a cheaper part of the country.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 18 points 4 days ago

    Maybe that describes the amount, but not the ability to organize. If this is true, there's something unique about the organizing environment in NYC that would be good to know about, both to learn from, and so we don't Children's Crusade workers into homelessness.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 24 points 4 days ago

    A fanciful guess: the mass transit over car culture means less ambient isolation. You see and interact with more people from more walks of life. You can walk places after work together, have long talks on the train. It's less soul sucking than just driving to work and home by yourself.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago

    This just plays into the myth that there are workers and jobs that don't deserve a living wage and job security.

  • source
  • [–] 8 points 3 days ago*

    "Don't unionize, just get a better job."

    What an ass statement fitting the appropriate snark reply: "Thanks, I'm fucking cured."

  • source
  • [–] 6 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    How do we get this for the tech sector? We have all the tools to organize.

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    load more comments
    view more: next ›