Tech Worker Unions

Unions are just another idea that sounds great on paper, only if you don't consider second and third order effects. They don't serve the workers, they serve themselves (like pretty much any organization).Tech workers are in so much demand that they don't really suffer such a disparity of negotiating power, like workers in other industries.Many software companies offer equity, which makes employers the shareholders. What's good for shareholders is also good for a lot of

Honestly, I think we should just unionize everyone in the tech field. A single Union that handles and accepts all software developers, IT operations folks, software testers, etc and we protect our own and lobby for the laws to benefit us and our profession. The things these companies do to get around basic worker rights is deplorable and we need to organize and fight back, and befor you say you make a ton of money and love what you do so why unionize, ask yourself how many hours you worked overt

Have you considered forming a tech workers union? Collective bargaining would be very strong.

A union is a mechanism by which a class of people with less power (typically workers) pool together to enforce rules on people with more power (typically employers).Right now, software developers have LOTS OF POWER. Companies are constantly courting devs, offering very high salaries, and including incredible perks that simply aren't available in most other industries. Yes, some engineers are exploited, but on average the power lies with the employees.When you think of all the "u

"Union penetration is decidedly low in tech, and tech companies coincidentally have some of the highest cash reserves of any industry. People in tech often think, why should I join my union, I already get paid a lot! Bosses love that attitude."If unions are anything like they are in the US, you lose your individual bargaining power in favor of the collective. IE: if you want a raise as a software developer, everyone at your level will also need to get a raise.In addition to thi

Unions can make sense for certain industries, namely factory work. Where it's hard to own the means of production, and workers are largely uniform in output, low pay and don't have much leverage.Unions don't make sense in tech because everyone owns the means of production (a computer) and have widely different levels of output. 10x engineers are a thing. Plus tech workers have high leverage, high pay (top 5%? 1%?), can easily get a new job, or can start their own tech company b

Its tech based. And people in tech are unfortunately somewhat union agnostic or lean anti-union. The pay is so good on an individual/self basis they are happy without looking at the bigger picture of their contributions to the content.

Unions have been trying to attract tech workers for years, but it hasn't worked and I'm not sure it will in the near future. Because of the supply and demand, tech workers see the highest compensation of any career in the US. Further, the average tech worker tends to be more educated, either by formal education and/or the cerebral nature of the job and often has the facilities to stand up against injustice. That's not to say that things like discrimination, racism, abuse, and

Unfortunately, the only reasoning I can see that "a union for programmers is a terrible idea" is that you "don't want to read newsletters or listen to speeches or be involved at all in the grubby etc".A unionized workplace doesn't mean you 1) need to join the union (closed shops are illegal in the US) or 2) be involved in the "grubby underhanded maneuvering for power" -- in a pragmatic sense because you can't be compelled to join a union, but more

Here's a short read about why it'd benefit nearly everyone reading this here to unionize...https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/why-95-perce...