• TheWorstMailman@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Am I missing something? When had he expressed his hatred for unions? As a union man, if he had said something like that it would’ve pricked my ears. As far as I know, he’s said that he doesn’t want his employees to feel like they need a union, but wouldn’t stand in their way if they wanted one, which is about as good as it gets for a North American business owner.

    If this stuff is true then they should unionize immediately. Solidarity Forever

    Edit: I’m not going to double down. This was a blind spot for me, maybe because my union is already established and fairly strong, but I’ll hold this L and learn from it

    • Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      in one of the WAN shows he went on a big handwringing tirade about how “unions means I’m a failure as an employer” with undertones of “You wouldnt want to make me a failure by unionizing, right?”

      • TheWorstMailman@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Okay. So I’m not missing something. I guess I heard him say that it “would be a personal failure for him as an employer” as him taking personal responsibility for his employees’ treatment. A charitable interpretation, but just a difference of opinion.

        I can see how people can interpret what he says as soft anti-union, it’s just weird to see you and others say things like this as if he’s sober sort of Robber Baron.

        Edit: I’m not going to double down. This was a blind spot for me, maybe because my union is already established and fairly strong, but I’ll hold this L and learn from it

        • SRo@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          You are a union man? Go speak with your fellow union people who work with negotiations and forming chapters and ask them what it means when a company says “we are pro unions but we feel it isn’t a good fit for us and we would have failed as a company if our employees would feel like they would need one”.

          Hint: it’s something like “get the fuck out with the union shit, I’ll fire y’all”

          • TheWorstMailman@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Fair enough. I’m not going to double down. This was a blind spot for me, maybe because my union is already established and fairly strong, but I’ll hold this L and learn from it

            • Pelicanen@sopuli.xyz
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              1 year ago

              I would just like to give props to you for owning up and listening to the information. I do not in any way think that you were wrong in your reasoning, just that there was more context that is likely relevant which you hadn’t been privy to, and once you were informed of it you reevaluated. Not everyone does that and I think a very valuable part of this community is when people do that (I know I’m not always particularly good at it myself).

        • snor10@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Employers by nature seek profit above all.

          Unions by nature seek improved wages and conditions for the employees above all.

          Since the positions are diametrically opposed, we must evaluate all employer speech concerning unionization through this lens.

          What I see is an employer trying to keep his reputation use deceptive doublespeak to discourage unionization among his employees.

        • ANGRY_MAPLE@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, for me, a company having a union shouldn’t really have much of an effect if they are actually treating their employees well.

          What wage discrepancies would there be to negotiate? Why would there be any arguing over allotted sick time? Why would an employee have a grievance against a company that they would need legal support for?

          A company that truly wants to treat it’s employees well should already be on board with all of that stuff. In fact, I’d almost even argue that they should want a union.

          • urshanabi [he/they]@lemmygrad.ml
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, in the unlikely event I was ever in such a position, advocating my hypothetical employees to unionize for their own interests against mine (no matter how much I may try to cede or be considerate) seems like the bare minimum. Other options would maybe include making it a workers co-op or something.

        • argv_minus_one@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          Definitely charitable. My interpretation of his statement is that his idea of failure is unions because his idea of success is screwing over his employees.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Nah, don’t take an L. Some people who say that genuinely mean it, and I think an owner-operator business like LTT might fit the bill for someone who does actually mean it.

          That said, it’s the same weasel-language that many corporations use that are actually anti-union and would be willing to squash a union if people started to unionize. I see some of that at my place of work (I’m not in a union, no talk of a union), but again, I know my immediate leadership to know that their heart is in the right place, but that they could be forced to do something they don’t like from higher-ups (e.g. we are going from 2-days in-office to 3-days in-office due to higher-ups, we’ll see if my boss actually campaigns for going back to 2-days in-office once the initial fervor dies down).

        • Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Yep, he got caught with his manipulative word play this time by GN, but it also gives context for everything he’s said in the past and puts new light on them, because this isnt something people just wake up and decide to do one day. Its something they do their entire life.

      • rbesfe@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Why would “you wouldn’t want to make me a failure by unionizing” convince anyone not to unionize? You think poorly treated employees give a shit about their boss’ feelings? Put down the armchair psychology textbook and listen to the guy, he flat out says he supports unions and workers’ right to organize against antagonistic leadership.

        • Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          he said he supported unions, but doesnt want a union at his business.

          he said we should call out bad companies, until its his company thats being called out.

          Says he cares about employees, but ignores sexual harassment, abuse, and overworks them beyond capacity.

          He says a lot of shit, until hes on the receiving end of it.

          • rbesfe@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            Are you dense? He doesn’t want a union because in his mind, correctly, it would mean he’s a terrible person. Not every workplace needs a union.

            • Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              He types all this out, but has the audacity to call me the dense one.

              I swear to god, these linus fart huffers…

    • which is about as good as it gets for a North American business owner.

      Meanwhile, Dave Oshry being a fucking chad (yes I know he lives in NZ, but he’s from the US)

      spoiler

      Sorry to anyone for whom spoilers don’t work