Posted by Sir Four at 9:43am Oct 14 '07"How are they different? Each of them works in an extremely volatile industry that could turn on them at any moment. For sports stars, an injury can end their career."
That's true, and that can be a motivating factor behind organizing to create the most favorable situation for themselves in terms of mitigating that risk, but I don't think that's the only or even the largest motivating factor. Shouldn't it be that anyone, in any industry, at any time, would be interested maximizing the favorability of their employment situation? Even in more stable jobs?
I believe that the primary motivation behind unions in pro sports and Hollywood is to ensure that the talent is compensated in proportion to the added value they bring (to the team, movie, etc). Some people find it ridiculous that they are paid so much money, and indeed it is a bizarre quirk of the market, and yet if it's not Alex Rodriguez getting those millions, then the money just goes into George Steinbrenner's pocket--so yeah, I'd rather see a big chunk of the revenue go to the talent than have the fat cats at the top hoard it all for themselves.
"In the tech industry, I think we're going to see a lot more startups. The process of starting a company these days is actually a lot easier than it used to be."
I think you are completely right. This generation is far more entrepreneurial than past generations, particularly baby boomers. This is one of the reasons I support universal healthcare, because I believe the current setup of employer-as-conduit-to-affordable-healthcare is unfavorable to entrepreneurship.
"From what I've seen, Unions breed mediocrity in the same way you mention."
Yeah, you are right to point that out. I think there can be good and bad implementations of unions. I'd like to see unions focus on securing rewards for good performance, rather than protecting bad performance. Getting back to what I said in my original post, if I were given some larger stake in the outcome of my projects (like a royalty arrangement), you can bet I'd walk into work a changed man, with a fresh motivation to get on these projects and make sure they succeed. I dunno. I think we're all aware that we're not compensated in proportion to what we contribute...instead we are compensated roughly the going rate in the market for a [insert job title]. We're just cogs in the machine, man. Or as management refers to us, "resources." Ugh.. pet peeve of mine, right there.
That's true, and that can be a motivating factor behind organizing to create the most favorable situation for themselves in terms of mitigating that risk, but I don't think that's the only or even the largest motivating factor. Shouldn't it be that anyone, in any industry, at any time, would be interested maximizing the favorability of their employment situation? Even in more stable jobs?
I believe that the primary motivation behind unions in pro sports and Hollywood is to ensure that the talent is compensated in proportion to the added value they bring (to the team, movie, etc). Some people find it ridiculous that they are paid so much money, and indeed it is a bizarre quirk of the market, and yet if it's not Alex Rodriguez getting those millions, then the money just goes into George Steinbrenner's pocket--so yeah, I'd rather see a big chunk of the revenue go to the talent than have the fat cats at the top hoard it all for themselves.
"In the tech industry, I think we're going to see a lot more startups. The process of starting a company these days is actually a lot easier than it used to be."
I think you are completely right. This generation is far more entrepreneurial than past generations, particularly baby boomers. This is one of the reasons I support universal healthcare, because I believe the current setup of employer-as-conduit-to-affordable-healthcare is unfavorable to entrepreneurship.
"From what I've seen, Unions breed mediocrity in the same way you mention."
Yeah, you are right to point that out. I think there can be good and bad implementations of unions. I'd like to see unions focus on securing rewards for good performance, rather than protecting bad performance. Getting back to what I said in my original post, if I were given some larger stake in the outcome of my projects (like a royalty arrangement), you can bet I'd walk into work a changed man, with a fresh motivation to get on these projects and make sure they succeed. I dunno. I think we're all aware that we're not compensated in proportion to what we contribute...instead we are compensated roughly the going rate in the market for a [insert job title]. We're just cogs in the machine, man. Or as management refers to us, "resources." Ugh.. pet peeve of mine, right there.
Re: Why no White Collar Unions? - Sir Four