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Kickstarter is facing blowback after firing two employees involved in its ongoing unionization effort, as first reported by Slate. Both employees were dismissed over the past eight days, leading to concerns that the firings may be part of a broader retaliation effort. US labor law forbids employers from firing or otherwise reprimanding employees for taking part in unionization efforts.
One of the employees, Taylor Moore, told The Verge that he believed he had been fired in connection with his unionizing efforts. "This morning after six years of pouring my life into the mission, people, and creators of Kickstarter, I was fired for union organizing," Moore said. "Last week another member of the union organizing committee was fired and we have reason to believe that more are being targeted."
"The union busting campaign that Kickstarter management is engaging in is illegal and wrong," Moore continued, "and is a dramatic abandonment of the values of an organization that I have loved and served with my whole heart."
Reached by The Verge, Kickstarter denied any retaliatory motive and said the company felt "obligated to correct the record." It said both employees had been fired because they "failed to correct performance issues that were documented and discussed in detail with them over the course of several months."
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/12/20863149/kickstarter-union-organizer-fired-retaliation-opeiu
(Score: 1, Troll) by Alfred on Tuesday September 17 2019, @01:13PM (8 children)
(Score: 3, Touché) by FatPhil on Tuesday September 17 2019, @01:49PM (5 children)
We only know one thing for certain, preventing unionising efforts is illegal, and the evidence points towards Kickstarter management doing that. Therefore we can only sensibly conclude that it is the management that are toxic, and harmful to the company's continuing survival.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by khallow on Tuesday September 17 2019, @03:41PM (4 children)
There's always case 2, that it is those laws which are toxic and harmful. Laws which pick winners and losers are a large part of the reason businesses are so paranoid about letting a union in. They lose most of their ability to negotiate once the union tapeworm is attached to the business.
(Score: 5, Informative) by meustrus on Tuesday September 17 2019, @04:37PM (1 child)
Curious choice of words. "Negotiate" is what unionized companies do. What managers really want to do is dictate. You know, like dictators. And if the employees don't like it, they can leave and be replaced.
Dictating is not a great way to run a company. In a perfect world, managers would be more careful with morale. Upper management would prioritize employees, because it's employees that really make the company successful. Not shareholders. Not executives.
If a company isn't willing to keep its employees happy and motivated, it almost always means that the executives are corrupt. They're more interested in short-term profit than long-term viability of the company. They may be looking to make a strategic exit when their stock options mature.
What's really amazing is the way that corrupt executives have convinced some of the masses that corruption is somehow the moral responsibility of the company. That mistreating workers is a good thing. And I can understand it from an abstract point of view.
But you and I are not looking at this system from orbit. We are workers. We live in this system. Even if we're somehow fine with a shrinking share of company profits, we're not fine if we end up out of a job because the executives are more interested in stock prices than in making stuff.
Whatever business you're in, if leadership isn't willing to listen to workers, isn't willing to allow them a voice, they're not willing to grow the company. They're only willing to grow its market capitalization.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday September 17 2019, @05:55PM
Most obvious rebuttal to a khallow rant, ever! How is the "We Work" IPO going, khallow?
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 18 2019, @07:57AM (1 child)
I disagree with the implications of (-0), and your use of (-1) loaded language.
All in all, I do not consider your post worthy of the downmod you've received, so, just this once, I'll see if I can find an underrated +1 in my stash to balance it out.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:37PM
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday September 17 2019, @02:03PM
Is the management toxic or its staff?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 17 2019, @02:36PM
Maybe they can fund their legal defense with a kickstarter!