Just to respond to this note:
1. I believe some programmers are organized in the scandinavian countries.
2. Even managers are organized in a managers union.
Here, managers are hired on the basis of their ability to prevent labor
organizing.
In rational countries, people realize that a balance of power in the
economy is a healthy, constructive thing, not the least to help make the
political system more fair, and serve community interests, rather than
plutocratic interests.
-- CJR
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Salus populi suprema est lex" (Cicero)
The welfare of the people is the highest law.
----------
"In the Country of the Blind, the One-eyed man is King....
just until sundown." (Anonymous)
---------------------------------------------
On Wed, 3 Jun 1998, Michael Gurstein wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 13:18:29 -0700
> From: "rebecca l. eisenberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: <nettime> unions in high tech
>
> This column has brought me so much hell from execs that I figure it is a
> good candidate for <nettime>.
>
> Cheers,
> rle
>
> ---
>
> http://www.examiner.com/skink/skinkMay31.shtml
>
> Net Skink
> By Rebecca Lynn Eisenberg
> San Francisco Examiner
> Sunday, May 31, 1998
>
> High-tech workers need to unionize
>
> When programmers started e-mailing me over the past few weeks, begging me
> to denounce the Senate's recent decision to grant more work visas to
> foreign nationals seeking high-tech employment, I was loath to run to their
> defense.
>
> Computer programmers, it seemed to me, did not need my help. They complain
> about long hours, but arrive at work at noon. They complain about low pay,
> but earn twice the national average. They gripe about being forced to carry
> cell phones, yet get wireless service for free -- not to mention stock
> options, top-notch health care, 401(k) plans and loaner laptop computers.
>
> Under-educated, overpaid, under-age white males, they start new companies,
> hire their buddies and wake up millionaires a la Netscape's Marc Andreessen.
>
> Surprisingly, in this case the programmers were right: The Senate H-1B visa
> decision did do them an injustice, but they still don't need my help. They
> need labor unions. If this debate over the so-called high-tech worker
> shortage does not stir them to organize, perhaps nothing else will.
>
> Unions for professional software engineers? The idea is not as crazy as it
> sounds.
>
> Although life for some programmers might look plush, many others sing the
> blues. Strong-armed to take options in lieu of paychecks, they are often
> left empty-handed when the business ultimately tanks, which it does in many
> cases.
>
> Meanwhile, the large paychecks paid by big software companies yield much
> more humble hourly wages when divided by the number of hours worked --
> without overtime pay, of course. Constantly pushed to publish products by
> unreasonably early deadlines, software engineers have grown accustomed to
> pulling strings of "all-nighters" near launch-time, yet still are forced to
> release products before they're ready.
>
> Perhaps most nefariously, as programmers grow older, their job security
> plummets. Any stroll through a high-tech company reveals that the work
> force is very young. Norman Matloff, computer science professor at
> UC-Davis, confirmed this common observation in an an April report: Five
> years after finishing college, about 60 percent of computer science
> graduates are working as programmers; at 15 years the figure drops to 34
> percent, and at 20 years it's a mere 19 percent.
>
> Personal testimonials are even more powerful than the statistics. "There
> were 10 situations where I interviewed and was turned down because I was
> not a good fit," said a 62-year-old computer programmer with 30 years of
> engineering experience in Silicon Valley, who preferred to remain nameless..
> "I work in food service now. I deliver a lot of pizzas to high-tech
> companies. We (cater) a lot of high-tech parties. Anybody with two eyes in
> their head can canvass the meetings and parties and see that in many
> companies there are few people who are over age 40," he said.
>
> The programmer described a conversation he overheard at a recent company
> event: "Age became an important topic of discussion at this mid-day
> meeting, and they decided that the oldest person in their section of the
> company was 29."
>
> These observations are corroborated by Matloff's study: Most software
> companies classify programmers and systems analysts with six years of
> experience as senior even though they usually are no older than 28.
>
> Older employees are more expensive. Because they are more likely to have
> families, for example, their benefits cost more and they are less likely to
> tolerate 80-hour work weeks than recent college graduates.
>
> And while unemployment rates for older workers are high -- 17 percent for
> programmers over age 50 as of August, Matloff said, the numbers tell only
> part of the story.
>
> "I get rather annoyed at unemployment statistics," the programmer said.
> "They might be talking about unemployment, but they are not talking about
> underemployment. Former high-tech people have long since exhausted their
> unemployment benefits or are employed at something that they did not expect
> to be doing at their age."
>
> Meanwhile, he said, as a temporary employee "I have sat through meetings
> where managers go out of their way to report that they had hired new
> permanent employees, stressing that they would be working as soon as they
> had their visas straightened out. Politically it seemed very important for
> them to stress this."
>
> Is this because H-1B status employees would work more hours for less money?
> "That was my distinct impression," he said.
>
> Would this programmer join a union? "I am not sure if 'union' is the right
> word, but I definitely think that something should be done," he said.
>
> "Union" is the right word, said Amy Dean, chief executive director of the
> South Bay AFL-CIO Central Labor Council (www.atwork.org), which represents
> the interests of labor, both full-time and contingent, in Silicon Valley.
> "It always makes sense for working people to come together for purposes of
> bargaining collectively to improve their workplace situation."
>
> Unions can provide job security for workers with seniority, which is
> essential for older workers in the youth-biased software industry, Dean
> said. "There is no question that the industry (is) looking at older workers
> as though they are disposable," she said. "They have become too costly, and
> now after they have given the best of their lives to the company, the
> company decides that it is too expensive to keep them on board."
>
> Additionally, unions could benefit workers of all ages by requiring
> companies to look internally or locally before hiring foreign workers on
> visas. If programmers were organized, Dean said, "They could insist on what
> portion of the company's jobs go to people in-house, and they could insist
> that X percent of jobs be tagged for people that are already part of the
> company."
>
> Furthermore, unions could convince companies to train workers, said Dean.
> "Workers would have means to sit down with the employers and say, 'We think
> that there should be X number of dollars spent on training to bring us up
> and elevate our skill base so that we can apply to jobs being given to
> people from other parts of the world.' "
>
> "This H-1B visa issue is all about trying to undercut the wage and benefit
> rate of current American workers," Dean said. With a union, technology
> workers could insist on a wage and benefit standard as opposed to allowing
> companies "to bring in workers that are going to undercut that standard."
>
> That's fine for programmers who are employed full time, but traditionally
> unions have not been available for contingent workers, who, like the
> programmer above, work part time or are contracted to work on short- or
> long-term projects. Because contingent workers now comprise 27-40 percent
> of the Silicon Valley work force (and growing), according to the National
> Planning Association in Washington, D.C., the Central Labor Council is
> upgrading its services to serve them better.
>
> "We are building an organization that people will be able to join to
> receive benefits, including health and pension," which independent
> contractors usually don't get, Dean said. "It will also provide training
> and skills certification, and it will advocate within the temporary-help
> industry to improve conditions for people who are working on a part-time or
> contingent basis."
>
> While this approach is not traditional unionization, Dean conceded, "we
> know that in the new economy, we will need these new types of
> organizations."
>
> In the meantime, Dean urged all high-tech workers to vote against
> Proposition 226 on Tuesday. That proposed law, she said, would "eliminate
> the right of workers to bundle together their nickels and dimes to have a
> voice in the political process" -- including opposing future attempts to
> bring in more foreign programmers. "If workers cannot combine their
> resources, they have no chance to stand up to big corporations and
> organized business," which outspend labor 11 to one, Dean said.
>
> In all these ways and more, said Dean, "History shows that when people band
> together, they do better than they would if going it alone."
>
> The software industry certainly knows the power of banding together --
> after all, it was the powerful lobbying efforts of its trade organization,
> the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), that succeeded in
> pushing companies' requests for more foreign labor through the Senate.
>
> Programmers -- both young and old -- deserve equally strong representation,
> which they can find in unions. If the industry is scared by the so-called
> high-tech worker shortage, imagine the persuasive power of engineers on
> strike.
>
>
> Copyright 1998 SF Examiner & Rebecca Lynn Eisenberg [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> All Rights Reserved.
>
> rebecca.lynn.eisenberg
> [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.bossanova.com/rebeca/
> ---
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