Reasons for not having white collar unions

[kray]

Hear me out. With the current economic situation, your average software engineer, accountant, or any entry/mid level professional deal with job insecurity, uncertainty, and high exceptions from corporate leaders for their interests. Since unions were formed in the 19th century to protect factory workers from exploitation and greed of robber barons, why can’t we have something similar in the modern era for white collar employees as well? Why can’t we have a software engineer union, or an accountant union which gives your average working professional the infrastructure of support and legal backing during times of unfair and unclear corporate decisions? It would be nice if there was an entity that represented employees and demanded transparency from management for employees. Thoughts?

[Schizophonia]

?

The unions are addressed to all employees.

 

[kray]

1 hour ago, Schizophonia said:

?

The unions are addressed to all employees.

 

No, not in my country. Unions are catered for blue collared workers, and they are kinda dying out due to policies favoring the robber barons.

[Schizophonia]

56 minutes ago, kray said:

No, not in my country. Unions are catered for blue collared workers, and they are kinda dying out due to policies favoring the robber barons.

In which country do you live ?

[kray]

1 hour ago, Schizophonia said:

In which country do you live ?

Us of a 

[RareGodzilla]

That's a really good question. I'm sure that the answer is complex, but here are my thoughts as somebody who distantly dealt with unions. 

I feel that in a way blue collar work has some aspects that foster unions. Working a phsyical job tends to build up a feeling of unity really fast. Often times these jobs are super vital for the function of society. The state will literally shut down if the railways, roads, power, water etc stops working. The collective bargening power can give them a very strong leverage. The traditional success of such actions is what helped to build them up in the first place. The existing union tradition goes a long way. There's plenty of conservative minded people who are proud of their union history, having it as part of your culture helps alot. Especially as selling leftist ideas to conservetive minded folks is something the left really sucks at today.

Programers and such tend to be much more individualistic. They traditionally had relatively good benefits and standard of living. These jobs flourished at the time of prosperity when unions tended to be in slow decline. There's no union legacy to lean on here, and it's also not possible to copy blue collar union strategy to unionize these kinds of workers. When I talk to these kinds of workers about the prospect of unions it's usually something that they never even thought about as a possibilty. 

Edited February 2 by RareGodzilla

[Hardkill]

That's a really good question, OP. I believe it's because white-collar workers have never felt the need to have a union for their respective fields. Historically, white-collar workers have generally enjoyed better compensation, benefits, and working conditions compared to blue-collar workers.

According to Meta AI:

Factors contributing to the lack of unionization among white-collar workers:

1. Higher wages and benefits: White-collar workers have typically received higher salaries, bonuses, and benefits, making them less inclined to seek collective bargaining.
2. Perceived job security: White-collar workers often have more job security and stability, reducing their need for union protection.
3. Professional identity and autonomy: White-collar workers often identify strongly with their profession and value their independence, making them less likely to seek collective representation.
4. Lack of exposure to labor abuses: White-collar workers have historically been less vulnerable to labor abuses, such as wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and unfair labor practices.

 

That being said I think there really should be unions for white-collar employees. Why not?

After all, there's always the possibility that even very high-skilled workers who are very well-educated and have a high ranking job can still subjected to various kind of labor abuses from their employees. In fact, with the advent of AI, white-collar workers are more likely to be negatively impacted by the AI revolution than blue-collar workers are. Therefore, may need to form unions more than ever before.

[Emerald]

3 hours ago, kray said:

Us of a 

There are white collar unions in the United States.

When I was a teacher, I was considering joining the teacher's union. And teaching is a white collar job.

[Basman]

41 minutes ago, Emerald said:

There are white collar unions in the United States.

When I was a teacher, I was considering joining the teacher's union. And teaching is a white collar job.

 

[Emerald]

5 minutes ago, Basman said:

 

Haha. True.

[kray]

48 minutes ago, Emerald said:

Haha. True.

Im serious tho….with today’s economic climate, most software engineers are essentially lower middle class

[Emerald]

3 minutes ago, kray said:

Im serious tho….with today’s economic climate, most software engineers are essentially lower middle class

I know you're not joking. I was responding to the Family Guy meme that @Basman posted above. 

[kray]

1 hour ago, Emerald said:

I know you're not joking. I was responding to the Family Guy meme that @Basman posted above. 

All modern workers need to unionize! Sorry if it’s socialist 

[Emerald]

2 minutes ago, kray said:

All modern workers need to unionize! Sorry if it’s socialist 

I'm not disagreeing with you. You seem to be under the impression that I am.

I was just telling you that I was responding "Haha" to @Basman and responding to his funny Family guy meme about teachers.

I agree that all workers should unionize. 

What I was saying to you earlier is that some white collar jobs do have unions. I was a teacher in the past. And when I was, I considered joining the union.

[kray]

32 minutes ago, Emerald said:

I'm not disagreeing with you. You seem to be under the impression that I am.

I was just telling you that I was responding "Haha" to @Basman and responding to his funny Family guy meme about teachers.

I agree that all workers should unionize. 

What I was saying to you earlier is that some white collar jobs do have unions. I was a teacher in the past. And when I was, I considered joining the union.

Cool