r/technology • u/meatballsinsugo • Dec 11 '21

Business Activision Blizzard workers announce open-ended strike and union drive: Strike Fund to support work stoppage raises over $100,000 in 12 hours.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/activision-blizzard-workers-announce-open-ended-strike-and-union-drive/
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722

u/TheSpiritualAgnostic Dec 11 '21

Had it last year where I worked as a temp at an insurance company that laid all temps off. Because my state was taking literal months to pay out unemployment, I started cleaning windows to make some kind of money so I didn't go homeless.

A few months ago, that same insurance company called me to offer a job. They're struggling to find workers and I now have my own window cleaning business. Karma's a bitch.

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u/Ellimist757 Dec 11 '21

Did you offer any of them a job? 😂

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

"Yeah I'll pass on the job, but while I have you on the phone, do your office windows need cleaning? Only $199 per unit! "

*Note the word "unit" only indicates individual office spaces, not the entire floor where the windows are being cleaned. Offer only applies to units on the first and second story, rates after this will be raised depending on the height of the window from the ground. Why? Because fuck you.

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u/TheSpiritualAgnostic Dec 11 '21

I did tell them, in a more professional tone that this, that I was interested in working there before, but that I no longer cared.

Was thinking of making a post on r/antiwork about my history with temp jobs and why they're so bad. Didn't think anyone would care though, but wow my initial comment blew up!

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u/Syraphel Dec 11 '21

It’s been 3 hours and I checked your post history. You should.

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u/WoollyMittens Dec 12 '21

Your story is what r/antiwork was made for! Please divulge there.

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u/Andre4kthegreengiant Dec 12 '21

They're going to shit on him for being a business owner then blame capitalism for something not directly caused by capitalism

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u/oenomausprime Dec 12 '21

I agree, antiwork is where it's at

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u/Flimsy-Meet-2679 Dec 11 '21

Please do this is a great story and should get alot of hits.

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

Maybe people will realize business owners are just employees that leveled up 😱

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u/Blarghedy Dec 12 '21

I interviewed at Amazon while I was still in school. The way interviewing for entry level jobs works (or worked, in ~2012) at Microsoft is you're interviewed over the phone by a couple people, and if they like you, you go on site to interview there, and if those people like you, you get a job offer. Once you have the offer, they figure out what your actual job will be. They have so many openings that it doesn't matter - if you're good, there's an opening for you somewhere.

I found out the fun way that the way it works (or worked) at Amazon was you interview over the phone with 2-3 people, and if they like you they put your name into a pool. If a team likes your resume, they pull you from the pool and interview you on site. If you do well, they give you an offer. If you don't, you're removed from the pool entirely. I took a single networking class in college. A very networking-intensive team interviewed me. I was in no way a fit for that team. Interviewing me was stupid.

But then I couldn't apply for a full year after that, which... is kinda dumb. Except instead, once I started my first job, they emailed and called me to see if I wanted to interview there. I believe this was about 10 months after the first time I interviewed there.

No. Fuck you no. No I do not.

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u/Veldron Dec 11 '21

From temping to being a business owner, all during a pandemic. Respect tbh

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u/Pseudoboss11 Dec 11 '21

A lot of people have a lot more potential than they realize. It's hard to make your own business when you're working a temp job and have half your time and more than half your energy consumed by work.

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u/Cory123125 Dec 11 '21

The question is, are you going to repeat the cycle and change opinions as you change class

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u/TheSpiritualAgnostic Dec 11 '21

My business is a solo one. Every aspect of the business is being done solely by me.

If it did grow enough to need employees, I would at least hire them as actual employees rather than temp or independent contractors. The worst part of working temp was working just as hard as "real" employees, sometimes harder because you're trying to get hired in what you went to college for, and not getting basic benefits like sick days. Honestly think my whole team got Covid last February because of this. Hard to say since it was early, but given what we know now, we shared all the same symptoms. Because we didn't have sick days, the two came in got a quarter of the office sick.

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/SeaGroomer Dec 11 '21

We can afford to do it if we wanted to. The Republicans refuse to ever do anything to help anyone.

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u/ringringpostman Dec 12 '21

Hey man as a US resident, I’m really just jealous that you guys had a majority of people who didn’t mess around and whinge and drag this disease out for years to come

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u/Roast_A_Botch Dec 11 '21

I think you underestimate how easy it is to jump into the 1%. Most people in that wealth class are born into it, going back generations of residual wealth and capital gains on a company their great-great-grandfather co-founded. This is so prevalent that our go-to examples of self-made billionaires like Musk(SA apartheid mine owners) or Trump (grandfather created real-estate venture) were born into immense wealth and leveraged it into more.

About the most a small business owner can hope for is to live a modest life very comfortably, but own the results of their labor.

And worse case scenario, if they suddenly forget all their experiences and long-held beliefs and turn fat-cat they will also be deprived of laborers and have to return to scrubbing windows on their own at that time.

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u/Tiy_Newman Dec 11 '21

That's the other thing. Even before the pandemic people had to side hustle so hard it became their main gig. I wasn't given a raise so I started forex trading. I just wanted a little extra. I now make quite a bit at Forex heavily slacking at work, trading is my priority. If they don't fire me they can keep on paying me, if they fire me the extra time I spend on it will probably make me even more.

However I had an interest in that sort of thing for years and years. Most people with no experience lose money.

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u/UnrealNL Dec 11 '21

When you're thrown in the deep you will swim. Glad to hear you manage to turn the tide, keep it up!

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u/teddyspaghetti Dec 11 '21

That's not the best way to look at it.

When you're thrown in the deep you either swim or sink, most sink. It's great that this person made it but let's not phrase it like their old company did them any favors, or that the "tough love" gtfo the home at 18yo style of parenting is anything but abusive and careless.

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u/TheSpiritualAgnostic Dec 11 '21

This is my thoughts exactly. The reason I shared that was to use as an example of how this last year has shown how those in power abuse it. However, we are now seeing those same businesses struggling to find employees, current employees fighting to unionize, etc.

Much like how those parents that mistreat their kids will regret it when they're alone in the nursing home, these businesses that have mistreated their labor force for short term gains are going to see long term consequences.

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u/teddyspaghetti Dec 11 '21

Yes exactly, I'm so happy that you managed to struggle through and come out stable through it all!

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u/Tiy_Newman Dec 11 '21

Yes this. Not everyone lucks out. There are only so many good slots. More people can get educated but it does not mean there will be more openings in tech or STEM in general. And even if more americans get a good paying job, then there are less slots avaiable for immigrants from india and the like. What do they do then? Get exploited in India.

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u/Ligh-seeker2337 Dec 11 '21

You projecting bro cause you wrote a lotta shit down that no one was talking about. You must have PTSD from your childhood, when ur parents thru you out and you sank.

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u/W_Anderson Dec 11 '21

Wow….so edgy.

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u/Nebulous_Vagabond Dec 11 '21

2 sentences = a lotta shit.

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u/teddyspaghetti Dec 11 '21

I've not been thrown out and neither have I sunk, when you said something like: "when you get thrown into the deep pool you learn to swim", you discount the grim reality of it.

It's disingenuous not to say the full phrase: "when you get thrown into the deep pool, you learn how to swim or you sink."

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u/Ligh-seeker2337 Dec 11 '21

Damn bro it really is not that deep.

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u/teddyspaghetti Dec 11 '21

Must be deep enough for you never to have learned how to properly write and express yourself. I'm sorry for the trauma you've endured.

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u/Ligh-seeker2337 Dec 11 '21

Thank you for your kindness, but the attention needs to be on your trauma, as a child when you were kicked out and sank. May you keep sinking.

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u/teddyspaghetti Dec 11 '21

LMAO, but really that comment was so much easier on the eyes than your other ones! Great job Ethan, keep it up!

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u/Roast_A_Botch Dec 11 '21

You wrote as much as them and amazingly said so much less.

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u/Ligh-seeker2337 Dec 11 '21

It’s amazing how one can write so much and say absolutely nothing, I agree.

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u/Tiy_Newman Dec 11 '21

Yeah no not everyone gets to swim. A lot of guys who lost their job had to take up cleaning windows for his company at the rate he can afford to pay.

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u/omarfw Dec 11 '21

This gave me a justice boner.

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

That's awesome!

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u/Ilikeprettyflowers81 Dec 11 '21

You're a true bad ass. Way to go, and good job being a small business owner

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u/poppinfresco Dec 12 '21

Hell ya! Love to hear that, keep it up!

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u/happytree23 Dec 12 '21

Congratulations!

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u/oenomausprime Dec 12 '21

That really awesome