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thal3s | 3 years ago

We're not slaves anymore. You as a human being are allowed to express your thoughts and opinions. Would we know how awful it was at Activision/Blizzard if those employees had not said something? Elon and C-Suite execs own and control everything, no need to bootlick.

discuss

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Justin_K|3 years ago

Any employee can change jobs at anytime... why are you comparing at will employment to slavery? Elon controls everything because he own's a majority of the shares of the company. His money, his decisions, his voice.

canadaduane|3 years ago

Both employment and slavery are by degrees. I think they can be compared, but "employment = slavery" is obviously wrong.

thetinguy|3 years ago

And yet even if he had all the money in the world he won’t get anywhere without his employees.

techie1980|3 years ago

If you want to bite the hand that feeds you, then you need to be cognizant of the potential consequences.

Some leaders, and following that some cultures are receptive of open criticism and disagreement. Others are absolutely not. It's up to each person to read the room.

ericd|3 years ago

I think it's important to note the top demand of the letter (in italics):

"As a starting point, we are putting forth the following categories of action items, the specifics of which we would like to discuss in person with the executive team within a month:

Publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior. SpaceX must swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Elon’s personal brand."

I don't know why anyone would think that that would go over well.

trs8080|3 years ago

> If you want to bite the hand that feeds you, then you need to be cognizant of the potential consequences.

SpaceX employees are the hand that's feeding Musk. Unless you think he can get to Mars by himself.

TameAntelope|3 years ago

You are absolutely not allowed to express your thoughts and opinions free of consequence.

I think Elon's a tool, and this is a bad move, but to think someone should be protected from consequence of what they express is absurd.

It's his company, he makes the decisions. The market should respond if that's a big enough deal, and I'm 100% sure that's starting to happen (though it's exceedingly slow in the space domain).

teawrecks|3 years ago

I think you're arguing tangentially to the point being made, which is that: no insubordination happened. They were simply critical of how Musk represented them.

I have to assume they knew when they penned the letter that they would find out whether their leader could take criticism and help them make a better company and product together, or react immaturely and let them know that their time would be better spent elsewhere. Seems they got their answer.

In any case, yeah, Musk owns the company and has the right to fire people for criticizing his business decisions. Bold strategy, we'll see how it turns out for him.

dlp211|3 years ago

[deleted]

WalterBright|3 years ago

> We're not slaves anymore.

True. And you're not entitled to the job, either. The employer/employee relationship is a voluntary one, for both parties.

LambdaComplex|3 years ago

For most people, their job is their primary (or only) source of income. Being fired decreases (or entirely removes) their ability to afford food and shelter--things which are both necessities.

A company of any significant size, on the other hand, will be able to handle the loss of a single employee just fine.

There is a power imbalance between the two parties here and I don't think you can construct a solid argument while ignoring it.

throwaway894345|3 years ago

You are free to express your thoughts and opinions, and your employer is free to stop employing you.

tankenmate|3 years ago

Within the bounds of legality while also taking into account of "we'd rather just pay the fine" and get the unwanted employee out.

In the UK recently the CEO of a ferry firm sacked all its workers in contravention of the law (they were required to give a 90 day consultation before any job losses, required to offer them other roles in the organisation). The CEO was summoned to parliament to explain what happen and said that "we didn't think the employees would go along with it, so we just fired them".

The government and employment tribunals are looking into collecting evidence in order to convict the CEO (criminal vs the usual civil penalty).

pfortuny|3 years ago

Please: slaves could not even think of leaving their jobs.

We are not slaves, but our bosses are not our parents either.

tomohawk|3 years ago

If you want a guaranteed job where you can do whatever you want, including running down your boss, then get a job with the government.

Businesses that are trying to stay in business don't have time for you.

meatsauce|3 years ago

You can be certain that when someone implies that you are a "bootlicker" for holding an opposing viewpoint, that the accuser has reached the last line of their intellectual sub-routines and can no longer store any further instructions.