
Uber is pushing anti-union propaganda to its drivers - Fraterkes
https://theoutline.com/post/1417/we-listened-to-every-episode-of-uber-s-anti-union-propaganda-podcast
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NoGravitas
Ugh. Anti-union propaganda from employers is always so disgusting. It's always
so full of outright lies, confidently stated, that become the default baseline
for the discourse. It's like the earliest glimmerings of the post-truth era.

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chrisseaton
But you could say the same thing about the pro-union propaganda from the
unions. Both the companies and the unions are out for themselves and will tell
you how they see things their ways as if it were fact. Neither is worse than
the other, and an employee (or Uber contractor) would be a fool to take
anything either side said at face value.

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dragonwriter
"Companies" and "unions" are abstract fictions; the actual people involved
are, respectively, _owners_ ( _shareholders_ for a corporation, members for an
LLC, partners for a partnership, etc.) and _workers_.

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chrisseaton
Both sides, owners and other workers, care about their own existing interests,
not yours. Getting you involved, or keeping you from getting involved, is in
both cases just a way to strengthen their own position. They don't care about
your position. Why would they?

Or do you think the unions are just doing it for your sake out of the goodness
of their hearts? Well if you're willing to be so trusting that they are doing
the right thing, why not trust the owners as well?

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mattmanser
I don't understand the sentiment you're trying to express. You seem to be
making a distinction between workers and a hypothetical "you" who is somehow a
worker and yet not a worker at the same time.

It reminds me of doublethink.

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Eridrus
There are power structures inside a union that may not align with your own
interests.

As an analogy, nations are made up or citizens, but that doesn't mean they are
aligned with any individual citizen.

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Anderkent
I'm confused on why Uber has to give drivers information to Teamsters? If the
drivers want someone to collectively represent them, can't they just sign up
to Teamsters themselves? Then the org could go to uber and say 'hey, we
represent 20% of your drivers, we want X or we all switch to Lyft'.

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elicash
If there's going to be a union election (which only happens once enough people
say they want to join), employers supply the contact information that they
have on file so that both sides have an opportunity to speak to employees.
Obviously, employers are in an advantageous position, since they get to force
people to attend their meetings, force people to do 1:1's to hear their side,
in many cases (not this one) also get to see them and talk to them about it
every day. They're also in a position of power over the employee.

Info isn't shared until enough people say they want a union. While the legal
threshold is much lower, normally that doesn't happen until about 70% say they
want a union by signing cards.

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YCode
Here's a question for the community -- has anyone here ever been in a union?
What was it like?

So much of this thread is theoretical concerns, but I'm wondering what the
actual on the ground experience is like.

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EnFinlay
A relative of mine is in a union. From what I've seen, it's mostly used to
combat times where the management uses their leverage over individual people
to get free / unfair work. I'm sure there's room for abuse, but it seems to
act as positive force for both sides.

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revelation
Hilarious, it's the same formulation as those infamous Walmart educational
videos. The ordinary employee wishing to learn what this "union" thing is all
about..

[https://youtu.be/zTwY2bF1JI0](https://youtu.be/zTwY2bF1JI0)

~~~
cuchoi
The best part is when they demonize unions by saying "The truth is unions are
businesses, multimillion dollar businesses...". So multimillion dollar
businesses are the bad guys? Have you looked at the mirror Walmart?

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ams6110
But uber drivers are not employees. So Uber really can't tell them what to do.

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emodendroket
They're employees when it suits Uber's purposes and independent contracts when
it doesn't.

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EnFinlay
Anyone else find the article hard to read because the excerpts from the
podcast were too manipulative and earnest? It just makes my skin crawl.

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empressplay
Every time I think of Uber these days I hear Cartman's voice in my head going
"I do what I want!"

~~~
Neliquat
I just see hipsters funding the kind of unethical behavior they claim to be
against while pretending to be better by not owning a car.

