How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only unions in the industry

Re:How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only un... by renewiltord on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @05:39PM (#24713054)

Well, not anything. Some specific things. For instance, I don't fear a union of Appalachian postal workers. If you go help them unionize, you won't find me standing in the way. If you want to unionize Colorado glass workers, I will cheer you on from here. If the proletariat in the steel mills of Pittsburgh wish to unite, I wish them well.

But tech is dominated by rampant xenophobia from the have-nots. They fear the Chinese, the Indians, the god-knows-who-else. This much is clear. While they are weak and disunited, their force is dissipated in online froth. If they are united, they can probably move mountains.

So, while the status quo is undesirable to me, I'm not all that keen on your providing a platform for xenophobes to unite. Preventing this egg from hatching is the optimal play.

Alternatively, you could adopt a measure of good faith: A founding immutable tenet of all these organizations can be that they will always act to increase the number of legal immigrants that can arrive in America. It's pretty easy to demonstrate that the bomb cannot work against me and all those millions who I count similar to me.

So show me.

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Re:How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only un... by Apocryphon on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:00PM (#24713270)

I'm a first generation Taiwanese American naturalized citizen. My main experience with the H-1B system is that tech companies play an awful game of locking in workers who may be happier working for a different employer. Others have compared it to indentured servitude, which seems apt. I don't know enough about the system to see how it should be reformed, but I heartily agreed it shouldn't be used to restrict immigration. I usually hate to draw from personal experiences in these conversations, but a debate primarily using emotional appeals drawn from anecdata can only be responded in kind.

I understand that there is an undercurrent of right-wing reaction in Silicon Valley. TechCrunch was breaking the news on neoreactionaries as early as in 2013, and recent political developments have only accelerated right-wing radicalism since then.

That said, by refusing to do something to advance worker power in the fear that it might be used by xenophobes seems like a fundamentally defeatist attitude to take, and rather ignorant of who's who. Xenophobes are not the ones pushing for tech workers to organize.

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Re:How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only un... by renewiltord on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:07PM (#24713346)

I'm glad you made it. Congratulations. Happy to share this land with someone as articulate as you. And I'm glad you share my fears.

I'm asking for the equivalent of an ignition interlock device. It is not the world. It merely prevents subversion against the cause. Easy to do. Shuts down my line of argument entirely and honestly, I'll be fine with that.

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Re:How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only un... by Apocryphon on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:11PM (#24713387)

I promise you, if I was to ever start a labor union, I will include that particular proviso.

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Re:How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only un... by renewiltord on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:19PM (#24713466)

If so, you will find me a trivial recruit and true believer.

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Re:How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only un... by Apocryphon on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:24PM (#24713508)

Great! Until then, I will simply accept that you are someone with valid fears, but based on your insistence on ignoring abundant evidence, is arguing on bad faith.

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Re:How tech workers at Kickstarter formed one of the only un... by renewiltord on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:33PM (#24713595)

If that's what it must be, then that's what it must be.

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