this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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Antiwork

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Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration (www.businessinsider.com)
submitted 1 year ago by soyagi@yiffit.net to c/antiwork@lemmy.ml
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cross-posted from: https://yiffit.net/post/1029567

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2936916

Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration::Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay — others jumped in to note the importance of the jobs and harsh working conditions.

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[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 35 points 1 year ago

Everybody's salary needs to increase and the only way we can achieve this is through unions. There isn't one single employer that I've met out there in the IT field that was ever willing to increase my salary beyond 2%. It's always "too much". Meanwhile my cost of living has nearly doubled.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To people who think they "don't deserve it" - if their job is so easy, why don't you get off your ass in your nice air conditioned office and do it yourself?

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Actually, I did do it. I was in IT for 20 years, 10 of it doing tech support. Now I deliver mail. Best decision of my life. And it is surprisingly easy for someone with a tech background. Sure, there's a lot of physical labour involved. And winters suck with the massive increase in Christmas parcels and mail on top of the shitty weather. But summers are light and I'm outdoors most of the day.

EDIT: for clarity

The sad part is that I had to leave a 20 year IT career to find this job which will eventually lead to a 6 figure salary. By the time I left IT, my wage had stagnanted for a decade and I couldn't see any path to 6 figures. It's not that delivery drivers don't deserve that kind of salary...we do for the work during the crunch times. It's that IT workers deserve a union that will back them up and get them that salary.

If I'm up at 2am fixing a crashed server before the 6am reports are generated, and I still put in a full day the next day to do the post-mortem analysis, I deserve more than some encouraging words and a half day at some point in the future that I'll never have the chance to take.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The sad part is that this job will eventually lead to a 6 figure salary [...] It’s not that delivery drivers don’t deserve that kind of salary

So it sure sounds like you're saying they don't deserve it lol

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's really not, as evident by the statement immediately after that you left out.

...we do for the work during the crunch times.

The sad part was that I wasted at least 10 years of my life trying to achieve something that I eventually had to accept was never going to happen. I think I deserved a 6 figure salary for the work I was doing in IT. Other people had achieved it doing the same work. But after the last layoff and not being able to find something that wasn't pure tech support for less money that I had been making before, I had to make a difficult decision. And that decision is going to finally lead to the salary I want.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

But what you're saying is "they don't deserve it, I do!"

You're literally saying it's "sad" that delivery jobs will lead to a 6 figure salary i.e. they don't deserve it.

As if this is a zero sum game.

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Again, it's really not.

It's that IT workers deserve a union that will back them up and get them that salary.

Everyone deserves the same chance for reward for doing the same work. Everyone.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Then why is it sad that delivery drivers will get a 6 figure salary?

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Again...

The sad part was that I wasted at least 10 years of my life trying to achieve something that I eventually had to accept was never going to happen.

I had to leave a 20 year IT career in order to get what I was looking for. Delivery drivers deserve every last cent they fought for. It's just a shame that IT works don't have someone fighting for them collectively.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Again

The sad part is that this job will eventually lead to a 6 figure salary.

Why. Is. It. Sad. That. Delivery. Drivers. Get. A. Six. Figure. Salary.

Nothing else you're saying takes away from the fact that you literally said this.

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've edited my comment for clarity.

Seriously, stop focusing on your misinterpretation of a single statement...

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's all I wanted! When you make a communication error, correct it. Don't just argue about it lol

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I repeatedly clarified my position. I wasn't arguing about it, I was correcting your misinterpretation.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s really not, as evident by the statement immediately after that you left out.

No, you accused me of misinterpreting what you said by leaving things out, but that's not what happened. The quote I was drilling down on clearly said one thing, even though you meant another, but instead of just saying "oops, what I meant was" you came at me!

I was just telling you what you sounded like. "Evident". It wasn't evident, it was poorly phased.

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Right. You couldn't get past your misinterpretation of a single statement, and ignored everything afterwards that clarified that statement. If you feel that I "came at you", that again is a misinterpretation. You're being confrontational. And I'm ending this now.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I didn't misinterpret shit. I interpreted it the only way it could be read. You miscommunicated.

[–] CouncilOfFriends@slrpnk.net 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

We all do better when we all do better.

As someone who has only worked freight in an air-conditioned warehouse, moving boxes is not easy work and not many people will be able to do it their whole careers. I'm personally glad I argue with computers for my job now and I have much respect for those lifting things in the elements.

[–] SomeGuyNamedPaul 23 points 1 year ago

Wages versus other wages isn't the zero-sum game, in fact it's the opposite. When they do better we all do better in labor getting a bigger piece of the economic output pie.

[–] CaptThax@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So I am in a "Right to Work" State and I have thought about this for a minute now... Given the support is there, how hard is it to start a union in a particular field/industry in a city? I have been in Tech and IT for the last +10 years and I while I havent met too many Union Deniers, no one seems to know why there is no Tech Unions out here. Is there a place I could reach out for guidance?

[–] mohKohn@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I would check in with another local Union. UC grad students are organized under UAW, which was nominally united auto workers.

[–] slacktoid@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Tech workers are the salties cucks out there. The fact that some believe the MIT (cuck) license is freeer than the GPL (chad) license. these people are beyond repair.