Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

It is too damn high

I was due in for my annual physical tomorrow, but in lieu of Kaiser Permanente workers commencing a three-day strike today, I had to reschedule. Because I too am a member of a union, and the unofficial rule (or perhaps official?) for union members is to never ever cross a picket line. Not the one of your union, or any other union. In respect and support for the Kaiser workers, it’s no big deal for me to delay my routine visit. It’s not like I’ve got an open arterial wound (would have been long dead by now).

A huge fist of solidarity to those healthcare workers. These inflationary times are indeed super tough. Have you guys noticed the gas prices lately? The cost per gallon of gas has jumped solidly into the six dollars. Well, except at Costco. But then you’d be queuing up with everybody and their mothers just to save a few bucks. I get it though: it certainly feels like a unit of money doesn’t get you very much these days. Workers are simply fighting for wages that keep up with the inflation. Those PG&E utility rates aren’t shrinking, that’s for sure.

Inflation is even more jarring when you know what the prices were from way before. A breakfast burrito at the taqueria on campus used to cost less than five dollars. I curiously checked last week and it has ballooned to over $11! Granted, that’s about par for the course these days for a meal, but because I know what that burrito used to cost - more than half of what it is today - I cannot bring myself to pay the new price. I rather walk to nearby Chipotle and get a bowl for $12. At least that item was never under five dollars.

Kaiser Permanente workers on strike: I hope you get the maximum possible. I shall see some of you in two weeks when I go in for my rescheduled annual checkup.

I’m on the next level.

In solidarity!

The Writers Guild have gone on strike. I can remember the last time the writers picketed, back in 2007. The beloved show The Office was nearly cancelled because of it. Many other shows did get cancelled, and those that survive had their storylines hugely affected. Depending on how this strike goes, the effect on your favorite show may be devastating.

Don’t get me wrong, I am squarely on the side of the striking writers. As a member of a union myself, I have nothing but solidarity with members of other unions. Inflation continues to be an issue, so workers have to fight for every bit of increase just to keep up with expenses. Last year my union negotiated a 7% increase for the members, for which I am extremely grateful. The increase definitely eases the pain of the current inflationary environment. From an already frugal base, I didn’t have to alter my spending that much, if at all.

The writers also have to contend with the existential crisis of being replaced by AI. I directly know people who are already using ChatGPT (and the like) to help them write long form. The same technology can no doubt be leveraged by TV and movie studios to write stories and dialogue. You can employ less writers if all you need is for them to tidy up the output from an AI bot. The time is right now for human writers to negotiate a future in which their role is protected for years to come.

Our favorite shows might be on pause for a long time because of the strike, but these are real people with real families to take care of. These aren’t the Hollywood elites living in the hills. Most writers earn a middle-income wage like you and I. They deserve every bit they can get from the studios. In solidarity!

Ominous.

Sorry to hear

With many big tech companies doing layoffs recently, I didn’t think that someone I personally know would be part of the cohort getting the axe. Not until yesterday, when a friend informed me a mutual friend who works at Salesforce, no longer works at Salesforce. She’s doing relatively okay otherwise. The severance is generous, and she’s been diligent with money for a long time. The savings cushion is for precisely these unfortunate moments in life.

I guess I had the impression that people who’ve been with the company for a long time would be safe from the layoff reaper. Which is why I didn’t exactly worry for my friends who was at Salesforce and is at Google (fingers crossed for that friend). I read a tweet recently of a person who got fired from Google after being there for 20 years. These big tech layoffs aren’t simply to cull the massive headcount increase during the pandemic - it’s an opportunity to reevaluate all areas and get leaner.

I’m glad my workplace unionized, so there is some measure of last-in, first-out during times of austerity. Of course, that cuts both ways: under-performers get saved from termination on the virtue of them being with the company for a long time. It’s not a hard rule, however. During the pandemic, our campus had some layoffs, and no one in our IT support department got axed. Which make sense: you don’t get rid of people in the department that is wholly supporting your remote learning effort.

Obviously then the campus did not expand/hire massively during the pandemic - unlike the big tech companies. So I have to think we’re in better shape to handle the supposedly recession headwinds to come. During these times, everybody wishes they have the security of a government job.

Torii.