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I don't know which dot-coms you've worked for, but in my company we paid
people salaries commensurate with industry standards and their achievements.
If they did well, they got a raise. If they didn't, they didn't get a raise.
Furthermore, thanks to my contract, my benefits package can't disappear or
be modified without my express approval. Regardless, none of my four dot-com
employers attempted to worsen my benefits package. As a professional, I
don't expect overtime pay. If a company expects me to regularly work a lot
of overtime they'd better pay me a lot of money. Otherwise, I'll find
another job.
I don't deny that unions have achieved valuable gains in the past. Having
spent a frustrating year and a half in a union, I also agree that unions
need to radically change if they're going to remain relevant. My experience
taught me that a union trades innovation and flexibility for job security,
that a union encourages mediocrity and the status quo instead of motivating
achievement. In a field that depends on original thinking, how can a union
be a useful institution? DB.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diane Evans [mailto:DianeE -at- LOCKSTREAM -dot- com]
> Sent: 31 October 2001 17:40
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: RE: Technical Writing Union
> Anyone who has ever worked for a consulting agency or
> dot-com (or both)knows that the employees are not treated
> fairly and are frequently abuses. Salaries are paid on the
> basis of whoever is the best negotiator. Raises are given
> likewise. Layoffs are decided based on a manager's whims.
> Benefit packages may suddenly disappear or be modified.
> Hours can be long when a deadline approaches. Overtime pay
> may be nonexistent.
>
> Unions have brought many changes to our world...40 hour/5 day
> weeks, everyone paid somewhat equally for the same job,
> medical benefits, retirement benefits, and much more. The
> world is rapidly changing, and unions need to change to meet
> the new demands of workers.
<snip>
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