Finished podcast, first half was pretty informative, if sparse on specifics. Really wish that after making a sizable deal about getting names correct, she didn't refer to a titan of the industry as "Joe" Kirby. Face palm moment!
The second half... was interesting in theory but serves as an example of the problems of tying the practical applications of unions too heavily into Marxist theory/scholarly domains. It mirrors her issues with the intelligentsia controlling the direction art by removing it from the hand of the working class.
You're actually highlighting a common concern in modern union membership. That a body of "experienced" workers have an innate reason to not invest resources in policies that might benefit their potential younger replacements. There's some practical inconsistencies to a system that says that two tradesmen producing competent results in similar time frames can make wildly different wages solely on the basis of seniority.
Here's one of the points where the Neal Adams attempt at unionizing broke down according to various scattered accounts. How current unions/guilds attempt to address it... I'm not fully sure. I'll admit being solidly pro-union but realizing the general concept was detrimental to my attempts to break into a field created a contradiction....one I personally haven't fully dealt with.
(Side note: Talking about page rates often feels like we're hammering out "horse buggy" technology when we should be focusing on how automobiles work ...but it is what it is.)
So here goes...The establishment of a standardized page rate is how the Big Two chokes off smaller publishers and controls the development of emerging talent by creating a fictional narrative of how you "break" into the business.
A union fighting for a more equitable page rate/pay structure is creating an additional barrier that only protects those already working in the field. The trickle down effects of creator rights is nice on paper but it's likely a proverbial lottery ticket when you're isolated from the machine/mechanisms to create value with the creations we own.
It leaves a bitter after taste... it's like being happy for the serfs that get better treatment inside the castle... while they raise the bridge, trapping you on the OTHER side of the moat. Then they send out a proclamation saying if you toil really hard and protect the castle from the outside... maybe one day...