> As an individual negotiating compensation with a company, you are at a structural disadvantage
I may be worlds worst negotiator; I'm not very good at representing myself and I tend to nod and smile a lot. I think my salary has tended between 1.2 and 1.5 times the male full-time median over my career.
So sure, there is a structural disadvantage there. If I were a great negotiator maybe I could be working with 1.4 to 1.7x. But that structural advantage is all about fiddling at the margins, and a union won't change that. Neither unions or companies can resist the underlying market that sets the bounds on what is possible. I'm much more worried about that, and I don't think a union would help. If anything, it is likely to hinder. If times get tough, I want a low-paid job, not no job.
Conversationally, I don't want my peers telling me what to do, it is bad enough when the boss does. If people want to share salaries that sounds helpful.
Unions don't tell you what to do, they tell you what not to do. Like hey, your job description doesn't include moving furniture, or you're not required to get coffee for everyone at a meeting.
I may be worlds worst negotiator; I'm not very good at representing myself and I tend to nod and smile a lot. I think my salary has tended between 1.2 and 1.5 times the male full-time median over my career.
So sure, there is a structural disadvantage there. If I were a great negotiator maybe I could be working with 1.4 to 1.7x. But that structural advantage is all about fiddling at the margins, and a union won't change that. Neither unions or companies can resist the underlying market that sets the bounds on what is possible. I'm much more worried about that, and I don't think a union would help. If anything, it is likely to hinder. If times get tough, I want a low-paid job, not no job.
Conversationally, I don't want my peers telling me what to do, it is bad enough when the boss does. If people want to share salaries that sounds helpful.