Hi-tech Work Places no Better than Factories?

Anonymous Coward writes "A tasty bit of truth. Again, a Sociology Professor has found out what we all know. He wistfully comments on the state of geekdom in the modern corporation: "They face the lonely insecurity of the individual entrepreneur in a marketplace and culture that stresses, with macho imagery from war and sports, that they are ultimately alone" and adds that... "For many this may be the shape of work in the 21st century." You want to start a union? I mean how much is your boss making at your expense even if he did start the company long before you joined up?"

Comments

You wanna start a Union?

[Em Emalb]

HELL NO.

Re:You wanna start a Union?

[Deskpoet]

The real answer to the job security problem is to find new ways to add value, above and beyond custom development skills (which in many C level executives eyes has become a commodity). Had the steel, audio/video, and textile industries taken a different tact than hiding behind a union to avoid the "constant upgrading of skills" that the author of the articles derides, perhaps they would still be industries that employ millions of Americans.

On the one hand, you talk about unions driving work offshore, while acknowledging that work is *already* being driven offshore without them, and that working people here have to beg, er, "upgrade" themselves every couple of years just to tread water. Not exactly logically consistent, but then again, what *is* about corporate merchantilism (state capitalism)?

How can YOU compete with a Chinese "migrant" working 16 hours a day for 30 cents an hour to put together circuit boards? Or Linux-MS-certified professionals in Penang that work for $14000 a year at what are $50k+ jobs here? The answer is simple: you can't, union or not. Unless, of course, you're willing to live in a cardboard box without your Playstation. Somehow, I rather doubt that you are.

All the talk about value of labor is meaningless if the same work is not compensated the same everywhere. As long as someone in Bangalore can (and is willing to) sweat out code for a third of what it costs here, jobs will go offshore. Dogging on unions is one thing, but don't hand out the platitudes about "upgrading skills" as a counterpoint to unionism because the two overlap only in the minds of the true-believer neo-liberal free-marketers.

If you're *really* concerned about the American worker--and honestly, who is? We're all out for ourselves, anyway; that's the American way, right?--then take a good long look at the systematic exploitation of the working class (and yes, that includes all the Reaganite computer jockeys who prattle their free market mantra even as their credit cards are maxed to the limit) by those who are all too happy to exploit the next starving programmer in line.

The money train is leaving for the "emerging economies". For job-securing skill-set upgrading, the languages you need are Hindi and Mandarin, not C# or Java.

Re:Dont like it?

[anarchima]

That seems like a bit of a ludicrous statement as what you're saying basically condones exploitation of human beings. It's people like you that lead to Communistic Revolutions...

Geek Union?

[FleshWound]

I thought that being a geek meant that you were smart. If you're smart, why would you want a union?

"Geek Union" seems like a bit of an oxymoron to me.

Geeks need to grow some balls

[release7]

What you geeks don't understand that if you had the balls to go on strike you could bring your respective employer to its f***ing knees for weeks. You could get any kind of a raise and any kind of benefits you wanted. You guys can't be replaced! I just don't think geeks have the courage to take what you can get. And if you aren't into taking what you can get, then you deserve to get shit on.

Call this post a troll if you like but it is the truth.

We wouldn't need Unions if we really believed

[MichaelPenne]

as a nation in our words about human rights and environmental protection.

Sure you can get goods cheaper if you buy from countries where its ok to make workers work for subsistence (or below) level wages, and allow factories to dump raw sewage.

A simple solution would be to only let nations sell here if they pay workers the US minimum wage, enforce the US minimum workplace laws, and obey US environmental regs.

For the tech industry, offshore programmers could undersell US programmers only if the same workplace regs. regarding humane workplace conditions, overtime, etc. were followed. This would level the playing field to one of raw skill rather than how much more abuse one country's programmers are willing to take.