I want to create a union at my work, but writing for a new job is so much easier.
I want to create a union at my work, but writing for a new job is so much easier.
I work in tech. At my previous job, I started organizing a union and got maybe 20 people out of 70 involved in actively planning and being interested. But I left my old job for this one, because I could be paid more with less work. And now there's a new job on the horizon which promises another 10-20k a year, and again, the call of more money outweighs the urge to improve the current situation. Anyone else ever dealt with this issue?
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I don't know if I'd really call this an issue, workers at companies generally start unions because they're being pushed into untenable hours and subsistence living without an escape. When you can jump from a sinking ship and add 15-20% to your salary you're just in a very different situation. There are risks to getting serious about organizing a union, especially in tech where the vast majority shops aren't union. You could end up tied to whatever company you're at currently for the rest of your career, since I'd imagine many non union shops would blacklist you from hiring if they found out you attempted to organize at a previous job. It's also difficult to get enough people on board for unionization when almost everyone in your department likely has the option to leave for a similar pay bump. The benefits of unionization are much less tangible for tech workers, who generally lead pretty comfortable lives, than professions that are tipically unionized like tradespeople or factory workers.
There are risks to getting out of bed in the morning, too.
Unions are not by definition in response to untenable conditions - those are certainly the most high profile instances.
Can't imagine that any worker for Big Three automakers is regretting having joined a union right now.
No reason a future employer would need to know you were involved in organizing, and hardly something HR is going to disclose on a ref check. Setting aside the fact that it's not legal to 'blacklist' that way, would you want to work for a company that did, even by informal word of mouth? It's just not a thing.