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> There's a fair chunk of technical communicators who hop from
> job to job every couple of years because they're interested
> in keeping up with the latest in technology, want to face new
> challenges, or just interested in learning new things. In a
> union situation, the job hoppers would constantly find
> themselves at the bottom of the seniority list. Last hired,
> first fired. So much for job security.
>
> The unexpected consequence of unionization might be that
> people would tend to stick with a set employer for longer
> periods of time. "I've been here six years, there are only
> two people ahead of me in this job category. No way am I
> moving to another company and losing my seniority now."
>
> A union -might- mean better wages, benefits, and working
> conditions. But it
> -also- might mean a lot more people are stuck at jobs that
> they find boring, because they don't want to face the
> economic consequences of quitting to work at another company.
Seniority is a problem in rapidly-changing industries whether they're
unionized or not. Seniority protects workers with the same job from
unfair promotions and demotions--if 10 guys are all doing the same job
for 10 years, who gets promoted? Who gets the cush assignments? In
industries like ours, where work is fluid and responsibility and job
skills change frequently, seniority isn't always the best guide. IBM,
DEC, HP, the phone companies, etc.--all of them had to figure out a
better way at times. Some unions understand this, some don't.
= Mike Bradley
Tech Pubs
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