Recently in the news, a Pennsylvania bill, the “Cryptocurrency Energy Conservation Act,” was stripped of language that would have created a 2-year moratorium on bitcoin mining. The bill’s author, Rep. Greg Vitalli, cited strong resistance to the moratorium stating that “strong opposition to sweeping changes to the state’s environmental laws is being driven by unions.” Aside from the misguided and outdated attack on bitcoin‘s energy use, this sparks discussion; Is there value in bitcoin miners employing union labor in US mining facilities?
I can listen to Max Kaiser now. “bitcoin doesn’t need corrupt unions!” And you’re right, bitcoin doesn’t need unions. Quite the contrary, unions and workers definitely need bitcoin (hence why I started the nonprofit Proof of Workforce). But the question is not whether bitcoin needs unions, but whether the American bitcoin mining industry could benefit from unionized workers.
An overview of unions
There are more than 14.3 million union workers in the United States. A recent study showed that at the national level,
The unions have 29.1 billion in available assets.. Unions participate in local, state, and federal elections and have scored significant victories in recent contract negotiations. Their mission is simple: salaries, benefits and working conditions.
There are some Bitcoiners who are vehemently anti-union. At the same time, a fundamental claim among them is that the trust system is rigged against ordinary, working people. These beliefs are somewhat at odds with each other. Because? The mission of a union is to protect the salaried worker from an employer’s inherent incentive model of profit. The most common example of this today is unions fighting for workers to achieve wage increases in line with real inflation. However, as a Bitcoiner, I understand the complexity of the issue and the challenge that many Bitcoiners have in supporting unions, which often take political positions in a polarized political arena.
As unions grew, they became bigger, richer, and more politically savvy. The sandbox they play in is in the name of the worker, but sometimes the lines can become blurred. It’s like the movie Donnie Brasco. The main character infiltrated the mafia to fight crime, but towards the end of the film, because he’s in too deep, his wife tells him, “You know, you’re becoming like them,” to which he responds, ” I am not becoming like one of them, I AM THEM.”
Sometimes larger unions and union leaders can stray, forgetting which team they are on, but for the most part they stay true to the grassroots that form the core of their members. Many larger unions consist of smaller, autonomous, sovereign workers’ unions. My point is this. Don’t wrap all unions with some of the bad apples that have appeared throughout union history. The unions share more values in common with Bitcoiners than either side realizes.
Arguments against miners using unionized labor
1. Higher costs amid tight margins
Miners have to be agile, always reducing costs and operating efficiently, to survive bear markets, halvings, changes in energy availability, etc. Surely, having to deal with striking unions and protracted negotiations is another headache that most miners want nothing to do with.
2. The miner is the main worker
Along with unions come better working conditions, hours and benefits. In bitcoin mining, the hardest worker on site is the mining machine. Human labor is needed to facilitate mining, but sometimes all humans could leave the site and the miners would continue mining. The point is that human labor in mining supports the operation. In that sense, I could see miners scratching their heads wondering if a union fighting for better working conditions and benefits is really necessary.
3. Union policy
Many smaller unions form larger unions and those larger unions, as mentioned above, can become involved in politics. bitcoin is apolitical, a network and protocol accessible to everyone, equally. bitcoin miners, like the bitcoin they mine, probably don’t want to be involved in politics. They want to mine their bitcoin in peace. But as we know, and saw in the recent Pennsylvania bill, politics can sometimes find you, even when you don’t want to be found.
An argument for miners using union labor
1. Unions Protect Union Jobs: Staying in Business
Unions protect union jobs. If union jobs are at bitcoin mining sites, then unions protect bitcoin mining. At the end of the day, if a state passes legislation that is detrimental to bitcoin mining, miners in that state may find their entire business at risk. In this scenario, the headaches associated with unions, i.e. better wages and benefits, etc., seem preferable to the possibility of going out of business.
2. Potential to reduce or supplement government promotion budgets.
As we’ve seen recently in Pennsylvania, unions can be quite effective when it comes to promotion. You could imagine a strategy of the mid-level miners opting to employ union workers and drastically reducing their government affairs budget/operating budget. And, in turn, potentially obtain superior results with government promotion; even compared to other miners in the same state with large budgets for government affairs.
3. Coalition building
Unions often work together strategically with other unions. This has led to great success among unions. In a scenario where bitcoin miners employed unionized labor, this could open the door to coalition building in broader industries, ranging from energy, transportation, medicine, etc. In coalition building, you never know what kind of unexpected opportunities may arise.
As for the pros and cons of a bitcoin mining company employing union labor, they will likely vary from miner to miner. One thing is for sure, as my brothers at Blue Collar bitcoin so eloquently pointed out in a recent thread, “Labor demand is high, labor supply is low.” As the world moves towards the next wave of commercialized machinery, i.e. ai and Bots, there will be a window in which unions will continue to gain enormous strength and influence in society. For bitcoin Miner, this may be a force that justifies a strategic alignment.
This is a guest post by Dom Bei. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
