Amazon is experimenting with humanoid robots for warehouse work.
Might be a good time to unionize, RIGHT NOW!
That kind of incentivizes automation. Robots don’t go on strike.
EDIT: I remember an article on the Paris train strikes last year. Only the automated trains kept functioning:
French labor unions have called a major one-day strike which threatens to paralyze Paris public transport on Thursday, November 10, the latest industrial action to demand relief from the French government over soaring prices.
The RATP transport operator for the capital has warned of particularly severe disruptions for metro and suburban rail lines, with bus and tram services also impacted by the protest for higher wages.
Seven metro lines will be fully closed and another seven will only operate at peak hours, RATP announced. Only lines 1 and 14 – which are fully automated with no drivers – will operate normally but risk becoming overcrowded, the RATP said.
I remember thinking that the train operator, not to mention users of the Paris transit system, are probably going to favor more automated lines over more human-manned ones after that.
The idea that Amazon will not replace every job they can regardless of unionization status is preposterous.
If they can automate the job, they already have every incentive to do so. This is not going to crack the whip.
Workers should unionize, period. The company is coming for them either way.
preposterous
You have two numbers – the expected value of the automated system, and the expected value of the human workforce. There is going to be someome estimating what the return is from each. If the automated one is a better return, that is the one that they will go with.
If they estimate strikes on the part of the human workforce, that will tend to make the human workforce less-favorable than it otherwise would be relative to the automated system.
The Paris Metro example is fine as they create new lines and upgrade existing ones.
The idea with the union is that any organization will have a difficult time slowly replacing workers with robots other than waiting for people to retire. It will either have to fire all or major portions of the unionized workplace to put in scabs or robots, or not at all.
