(Reuters) -Wells Fargo employees at its Albuquerque, New Mexico branch voted to join a union on Wednesday, opening up a new frontier in the labor campaign against corporate America. Wells Fargo employees voted 5 to 3 in favor of joining the Communications Workers of America's Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU), the union said. The vote stands "as a testament to workers in the financial services industry who know we need a collective voice to improve the industry we are integral to," said Sabrina Perez, a Senior Premier Banker at Wells Fargo's Albuquerque branch.
My dad worked in the semiconductor industry. As kids, we just knew that occasionally dad would be spending more time with us at home. As an adult, now I just see how frequently he got laid off.
The industry could have had more than enough money to keep everyone afloat during downturns but so much of the profit was funneled to the do-nothing class. Shareholders.
What’s interesting is a family friend I know gets laid off twice a year in his unionized workplace at a steel mill(?), but he always gets the same job back. The company just can’t afford to keep everyone on staff during slow months. He makes bank though, so it works out
Then imagine the bargaining power we’d wield if we had large and strong union. If you lack imagination, consider the example of what the power of collective action achieved during the recent upheaval at Open AI. CEO replacement, changes to the board of directors. Wow! We prefer being deluded by the fact that we’re getting a better deal than many others, but it’s only as much as corporations can get away with while having us work for them and not put up a lot of fuss. We saw the swift switch of attitude over the last year once they figured they had a few more workers than they needed.
Developers have great mobility, yes, but barring a few “key” employees, we’re all pretty replaceable.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if, instead of having to change jobs every 2 - 3 years to get a decent raise, the union just negotiated raises across the board for everyone?
I’m not sure, highly in demand professions like software developer already have a good amount of bargaining power with employers
Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of tech employees laid off during record profits in the tech industry
My dad worked in the semiconductor industry. As kids, we just knew that occasionally dad would be spending more time with us at home. As an adult, now I just see how frequently he got laid off.
The industry could have had more than enough money to keep everyone afloat during downturns but so much of the profit was funneled to the do-nothing class. Shareholders.
What’s interesting is a family friend I know gets laid off twice a year in his unionized workplace at a steel mill(?), but he always gets the same job back. The company just can’t afford to keep everyone on staff during slow months. He makes bank though, so it works out
So what? Developers can get new jobs elsewhere. Are you saying people can’t get laid off of there’s a union?
Then imagine the bargaining power we’d wield if we had large and strong union. If you lack imagination, consider the example of what the power of collective action achieved during the recent upheaval at Open AI. CEO replacement, changes to the board of directors. Wow! We prefer being deluded by the fact that we’re getting a better deal than many others, but it’s only as much as corporations can get away with while having us work for them and not put up a lot of fuss. We saw the swift switch of attitude over the last year once they figured they had a few more workers than they needed.
Developers have great mobility, yes, but barring a few “key” employees, we’re all pretty replaceable.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if, instead of having to change jobs every 2 - 3 years to get a decent raise, the union just negotiated raises across the board for everyone?
So what? Developers can find a new job. I just moved through a few companies and accepted better offers every time
lol, individual bargaining pales in comparison, is more unequal, and is much more easily weaseled around