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Comment by logfromblammo | Hacker News Reader

Every time I see another iteration of this kind of article, it screams out to me that we need some kind of worker's cartel that can enforce an embargo on companies that don't meet some minimal standard.

Part of the problem is that companies keep getting more applicants than they can handle, no matter how hostile their interview process becomes.

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Like... a union? A combination of aggressive union busting, anti-union ideology of many in tech, and aggressive offshoring/H1B hiring acts to keep that in check. The moment you try to raise the issue you’re either fired, or some “genius” who reads Ayn Rand like the Bible tells you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

I agree, but the problem is that unions notoriously favor the older, entrenched generations of a profession over the newcomers. Talk to people from NYC (a place with still much union influence) and you see a stark difference between the old folks and the younger folks in how they view workers' unions.

Software development is already so heavily dependent on enthusiastic young people that I don't see how a union could get enough traction without completely reinventing the idea of a union in people's minds.

"but the problem is that unions notoriously favor the older, entrenched generations of a profession over the newcomers."

There's nothing specific about a union that does this. The union is an extension of the will of it's members.

Union membership rates are highest among workers aged 45-64. It may be a self-fulfilling prophecy to say that unions are for the older generation, but I think there would be either non-participation or real resistance from the younger generations of programmers, if only for the perception people have about them.

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