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@eximious what do you think are the obstacles to organizing IT workers?
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the smell, the doritos and the fanboy fights.
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The perception that unions are for physical labor, underestimating the power of collective bargaining until they need it, feeling too busy.
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You didn't ask me but I'll add: a small but loud contingent of IT folks think they're so hot they can get better job terms themselves.
Christopher Allan Webber and John Sullivan like this. -
@eximious that is a valid perception that I think is out there in many industries. I should say before asking that is o…
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@brettcsmith very very valid point, which is certainly not a new issue in the labor movement, university professors fel…
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@eximious ever had a telco circuit (T1, etc.) delivered in the US? CWA's wrecked image of unions for even pro-labor IT peeps in my circles.
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I used to eat at Papa Gino's in college, but still like spaghetti and meatballs. Unions are as diverse as any other general type of org.
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@brettcsmith I thought about saying that too, but you put it much more delicately than I was going to.. :)
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@fontana I personally find that a bit trollish. I am an IT worker and dont identify much with either class. I oft think of this.
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@fontana so obviously the mis-identification of class certainly makes organizing more challenging, I've read up on orga…
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@marxistvegan proletariat. Others profit more from my work than I do (financially anyway).
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Could you elaborate on the image...I never worked with CWA and the only person I familiar with is Steve Early http://brainbird.net/url/263783
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@x1101 damn capitalists!
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unions are not like pizza/sex. bad is bad. IT crowd remembers impediments (CWA), not bright spots (flight attendants) when thinking "union".
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to be clear, i hope it'll happen. just no point in sugar-coating the list of impediments, especially if someone's designing a campaign.
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I've worked with many different types of unions. You don't have to hire a corrupt boss or write regs that will be annoying for members.
Rob Myers and Jeff Gehlbach like this. -
And sadly yeah, I get that this isn't common knowledge.
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@jeffg I agree that mainstream unions have image issues and some get territorial with who gets to organize what, but as…
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what do you think of trying to build an online workplace mapping wiki? could keep it private to avert the eyes of non-allies
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@fendus that's good to hear...how has your experience been with the local? Are there contested elections for union positions?
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@x1101 in my case *nobody* profits from my work, so not sure in which group I belong :)
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@sazius none of us really fit in either group. The marxist class dichodomy is no more.
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@x1101 I think there still are classes of sorts, not just the ones that Marx described... although I haven't thought about it very deeply :)
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@sazius I agree, classes still (and will probably always) exist. I just meant his two class structure doesn't seem relevant anymore.
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@x1101 True, or at the very least it needs to be heavily updated :)
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@fendus contested elections are certainly a healthy sign though low turnout not so much...how political does the union …
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It is the same to organise all workers. Employer says simon says.
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@satipera valid point :) though besides the boss what other obstacles are there, be it physical, geographical, etc...
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failure to own one's mistakes and (in)?competencies might sum it up well. rare standouts exist for sure, i've known 1 in ~15 years.
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deck is stacked CWA against since mgt side of equation is so wacked itself. i say this as former "mgr" at last RBOC reswallowed by Ma Bell.
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@marxistvegan The obstacles to freedom and fairness are power, greed and self interest.
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I'm sending you a message...
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or not. Maybe you could email me? deb at eximiousproductions dot com
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@eximious message sent :)
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