Labor and Passion

Collective action by workers is not a recent invention, and the history of how it has succeeded, failed, been suppressed, and revived is more useful than speculation about what tech workers might do. Unions didn’t arise because workers read pamphlets about class consciousness. They arose because individual bargaining consistently produced worse outcomes than collective bargaining. Once workers understood that, they were willing to accept short-term costs for long-term gains. The question is why it took so long where it did happen, and why in some industries and countries it has barely happened at all. The concrete achievements of organized labor are consistently underestimated by people who have never not had them: the eight-hour workday, the two-day weekend, workplace safety standards that are actually enforced, prohibition of child labor, unemployment insurance, and employer contributions to healthcare and retirement. These were not conceded voluntarily by employers: they were won…