Depends on the job. It costs a lot more to train and hire but if what you have isn’t working sometimes you don’t have a choice. Yes it’s done all of the time, the turn around in my job would make your head spin. I have been at my job 5 years and I’m veteran status lol.

Well said. It’s the same in most industries.

"Which is why I love this country. Everything outside of defense that the government touches turns to crap. People need to quit relying on authoritative power so much. Produce a more attractive alternative and make a few bucks."

I think that's far too broad a statement. There are times government is necessary and times where it should have minimal influence. To give an example one of the only things that can protect net neutrality is government influence.

The US is ranked number 28th in mobile internet speeds which is kinda depressing once you see that Greece, Kenya and Indonesia are all ranked higher.

I know you're in the US but in the UK I used to work at a supermarket and the union fee was £2.50 a month. Hardly a lot to pay to have my holiday entitlement and pay protected, and legal representation should I need it.

We have labor laws that take care of that stuff. I shouldn’t be charged for basic workers rights. If a company screws me all I have to do is call the better business bureau and see what my options are. I have no problem paying for a good lawyer if I have a solid case. Most of them will just take a percentage of the settlement.

In my experience the business doesn’t screw people though. If they try it doesn’t last long lol. I get 20 days vacation a year and they wouldn’t try to screw me out of it. I’m not a slave and I have resume that allows me to move freely. I can pack up my shit and say “see ya” anytime I want, especially now in this economy. You don’t screw your workers if you want to keep them, only dumb business does that.

@TK

My understanding of the UK, and the EU, that most of those things are protected through labor laws.

That said, the 2.50 a month is a pittance compared to what some unions charge here in the US. My cousin got a factory job a few years ago for a car manufacturer in Ohio, and he had to pay $100 a month. It was the kind of job he was just there and would eventually get paid off, but for where he lived, you take what you can get. The unions weren't going to protect his job any more than the state could, because the labor laws in the US can be hit or miss depending on state, and it doesn't usually cover lay offs anyways. He worked there for 8 months, then was laid off....as expected. Union got him a one week severance package, which was about what he paid into the union to begin with. Except he had to pay taxes on that money.

Unions can be good, but a lot of times, they aren't. There are times where there is real abuse, but a lot of times now, unions just slow things down, and make it more expensive to make products, which is one reason a lot of companies are going overseas. For a $20/hr factory worker, they likely could find people to do it for $10-12, but the union won't allow that. But the unions act like they are in charge, because there is this mentality that the worker is in charge. That isn't usually the case, because the worker only has control over themselves, and choice should dictate the market. In a place where labor can be hard to find, wages are going to be higher. Where he lives, they're higher because of the unions, not because its hard to find people. It'd be harder to find people if they didn't pay as much, so they'd naturally adjust.

This isn't like the 60's or before, where companies played more off the depression era ideas that any money is good. It's the age where people have to make a living wage, but the markets don't want to pay more for their products, so as the union and workers demand things which don't line up with the market, it makes it harder for these companies to compete.

With gaming, there are a slew of issues that will come along with unions, and for the way games are financed, it could mean the death sentence of a studio if the union decides to start flexing its muscle, because they're going to do this when the studio is the most vulnerable, which is going to be right around milestones, which is when new funding gets added to actually pay the workers. Then you have the whole union/non-union shop issues which make it more difficult for contractors. Since game makers tend to be well paid, dues are likely to be higher, so effectively, they have to pay the workers more to get the same, so the only one's really coming out ahead are the unions themselves.

@Smoke

While business shouldn't screw their employees, as the employees are vitally important to a company, many companies also know that there is an available work force if some people decide they don't want to work there.

The labor force across all the gaming industry is in a situation where they have more control because there is an extreme shortage. That pretty much removes the need for unions, as bad developers are going to lose people mid-production and attrition should take care of itself. For most people in the gaming industry, it's more about just deciding to move on, and I find the people that are most unhappy with their jobs, they tend to be unwilling to do better for themselves.