Engineers should probably form unions.
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Does anyone else find it difficult to get another job while you are currently employed? Most people say that it's easier to get a job while you have a job, but that has never been the case for me. What normally happens is I go to an interview with the knowledge that I can mess up the interview and perform poorly. Sometimes I ask questions that I know are going to make the interviewer uncomfortable. This is probably both good and bad. Most jobs I have landed happened when I was unemployed.
I was terminated and escorted out of my last job in the Healthcare IT industry without warning. It was due to reporting a few coworkers for violating HIPPA, and preventing a social engineering attempt in real time with security and fellow clinical systems analysts. Was informed that doing so was a terminable offense because it is not my responsibilty to contact our security team. Later found out that the Human Resources Department didn't approve of my termination and advised against it
I got dinged on my latest review for not participating enough in the team channels, and I feel like I’m back in middle school. Apparently, shipping clean, bug-free code ahead of schedule takes a backseat to not dropping enough memes in the #random channel. My manager literally told me that social presence is a core metric for our remote culture this year. Is this normal? I’m so grumpy about it.
Engineers Should ABSOLUTELY form Unions!
There was a time and place for unions but today they drive mediocrity, everyone treated the same, and inability to compete in the marketplace unless there is a monopoly or almost monopoly and is why Government Unions are the most insidious. No reason to be efficient or the best worker, incentivized to be avg, and when the union wants more money they reach into taxpayer pockets. NYS is dying a slow death partially due to public unions and the high taxes, and low motivation workers they employ. Not all state workers are taking advantage but they certainly created an environment where they are incentivized to do so, meet the min requirements, and coast along until early tax payer funded retirement that is not sustainable.
Where does the funding come from? Assuming at least 25% comes from the employer, that's the tax payer. Adjustments were made to keep it sustainable and the employers who got the newer deal are now trying to retroactively gain the same deal as those hired 15+ years ago. I would assume the changes were to keep it funded. Much of the rest comes from investments which many of the people who decry companies making profits are also the same that want to form unions to take more of those profits as employee wages, undermining the investments gains. Saying it is well funded could easily mean that they effectively tax the residents of the state to keep it that way.
Hell no! - System driven by seniority rather than individual achievement - Corrupt bosses that loot your pension - Bosses use your dues to contribute to political campaigns that you might not agree with Here in Pittsburgh, when the steel mills shut down, unions were no where to be found.
Isn't that exactly what non-union shops already do? Aside from seniority bit, instead for non-union system is driven by whoever makes allocation decisions. It can be completely arbitrary and driven by however that decision maker feels that day whether or not you get promoted, or laid off. Unions aren't perfect but they're one of the few structures that exist to represent you. If you think they're objectively bad, you're lucky enough to work at places that don't treat talent as completely expendable.
It's weird how people can automatically label unions in general good or bad, like they're all formed and ran the same. Sure, unions can support people who are mediocre or legitimately aren't working, but that's an individual union issue. Generally, unions do more good than bad, protecting workers and putting people over profits. The intentions are noble, and it's the implementation that people get hung up on.
@ Principal Engineer 1 I would rather sociopaths climb via cunning and hard work than get stuck with some of the idiots that companies have been afraid to let go of around me in the various hierarchies I have been a part of. Generally if someone is intelligent enough to pull off what you are describing they are intelligent enough to do the job they were hired to do at the quality expected. I do not care what Joe Johnson my coworker is experiencing in his personal life, I go to work to pay for my needs and my family's, not have a great time and make friends. People need to do the job they were hired to do effectively or get cleaved. Expecting the collective to soak for the weak guy is a recipe for welcoming incompetence.
THIS!
Surprised no one has mentioned SPEEA (www.speea.org) yet. I’ve really appreciated both the continuing education opportunities and the role it plays in setting a floor for engineers and engineering work to be respected. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I think it’s worth looking at.
Interesting.It's.like.you.need.an.overseeing.body.too.Like.the.European.Commission.(spacebar.not.working.on.this.site).
No it’s almost like I’ve seen my company fire people for no other reason than stock value. They fired an entire team without knowing what those people did only to find that the group was in charge of our future releases and literally a required group so they had to try and hire people back and when that failed they needed to get another team up to speed. that new team still is pretty behind the curve years later. Companies need to be made to understand that the reason they can have big earners is because they build on our shoulders.
LMFAO!FUNNY!
The idea that its fair because you can quit just as easy as be fired makes things too simple. If you have a mortgage and the company you work for is the only one in town you really aren't free to walk away as easily. Granted the employee chose this but maybe they had limited choices. I'm close to retirement so I'm mostly free of this bs and can live where I want and don't get abused because I will walk away.
You know how close I came to leaving for Europe to avoid the US labor market? A success of capitalism I guess is it drives all but the rich out.
No, engineers should not form unions.
I think there are no direct impact if engineers are on strike. The factory keeps running, the production lines keep running. Until there are some issues show up. So even a union is there, do they really care?
What is the plan
Agreed. What is the mechanism through the diff societies in the US?
Multiple divisions under one overarching banner. For instance, there is a local in Illinois that respresents college staff, at a particular college system. They in turn are represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers, who are in turn represented by the American Federation of Teachers and then represented by the AFL-CIO. But other smaller groups might fall under the Teamsters or the Machinists. Parenthesis within parenthesis.💙☮️
nope,never