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Programmer culture is full of complaints about what management is forcing on the organization. Unions are the only realistic solution for those things. There's no reason programmer unions would have to be exactly like auto worker unions or actor unions.
And this is why you can’t move your own table or plug in a power strip at tradeshows. The unions have a detailed contract about who does what when.
Imagine the work rules around scrum and agile, created by a committee of passionate union organizers negotiating with hostile managers. And imagine there is nothing you can do about them but hope your views prevail at the next union election.
If you think your views won’t prevail in Union election, wait until you see how employers treat your expense generating views.
Examples: cars on deck short out due to salt water spray:
Long video with examples of car carrier ships catching fire:
Imagine the work rules around scrum and agile, created by a committee of passionate managers negotiating with no one. And imagine there is nothing you can do about them but hope quit.
I think that's probably over simplification, tradeshows have things like planning for fires, keeping escape routes clear, making sure power supply isn't over taxed. Maybe you can blame the unions for protecting their members because someone had to say they set up everything in compliance, and if you come along and change something, and disaster happens, prob the guy who set things up will get blamed.
Aside from safety reasons others have mentioned, these rules could also be meant to prevent replacement with other staff. For example, if a union negotiated a better salary & benefits deal for maintenance workers, the company couldn't fire one and then ask other employees to "Help out maintenance some of the day, because they're short-staffed."
As a software engineer/developer if I ever see coworkers trying to unionize I promise to try to work against them and prevent any such activities from continuing. It'd ruin the company I work at and would force me to have to leave for a new job.
The union is there to equalize this relationship. Developers have to deal with a bunch of things they don't want other than live life in peace and code either way. With a union, they have some say in what that something is. Without a union, it's entirely up to the shareholders and pointy haired managers.
Now, if you're in a position where you are 100% critical to the business, than sure, the union may actually reduce your personal negotiation power. But the vast majority of programmers have more or less 0 negotiating power without a union. They take what is offered or leave, regardless of how much they enjoy their work or co-workers.
Which are managers.
> your managers are strictly interested in the good of the business,
And said extra managers are strictly interested in the good of the union.
Managers are typically excluded from being members of a worker's union. Also, the role of a union rep is very different from the role of a manager.
> And said extra managers are strictly interested in the good of the union.
Since they are democratically elected, they are interested in the good of their constituents. If you don't think your union rep has your best interests at heart, you can choose another one at the next election. If you don't like your manager, you can quit.
Supposedly that's the case for politicians as well, and we all know how well that works out.
Also I think you misunderstood my previous comment. I was referring to the union people as "managers" in quotes. As they're create an extra layer of go-between between us and the managers.
Besides, negociations being done through unions rather than directly with managers is a feature, not a bug, because it reequilibrate power dynamics. It's harder to underpay someone when there is a salary grid known to everybody.
Companies are unions of shareholders, getting together to achieve more than what they could do if they were alone. Labor unions works on exactly the same principle. Please have a look at labor history and see what unions where able to do for workers.
Are labor unions perfect with no corruption, no mismanagement, no abuse. Of course not, it's a human organization. Just like companies, governments, municipalities or any other group or people. But it's by participating, keeping informed and holding the people in charge accountable that you work it out. Realizing this is part of growing up.
Realistically, unionized software engineers would make hilariously less money than FAANG people are making right now. At least, that's what I'd assume from looking at how things work in Europe.
(b) There must be a name for the fallacy of examining the top 10% and using it to claim a policy would be bad for everybody.
What do you want out of a software union?
(Keeping in mind that we can comfortably afford and demand basically any perk you can imagine.)
All professions have a union of some sort that police both the members and the employers - lawyers, doctors ...
It works for them, why wouldn't it work for developers? Are developers not as professional as lawyers and doctors?
No, they don't. Professional societies aren't unions. They don't police anything, governments do; the societies only provide input to the rulesmaking process for the profession. They also have no power to represent their members in employment-related matters like a union. They do provide some union-like services to their members, but it's the fringe stuff like continuing education to maintain licenses.
Also, these exist for software engineers (ACM and IEEE), but the industry (at least the Valley-centric part) largely ignores them as membership organizations and resist any attempt to produce professional regulations similar to what those other professions have.
Given that developers often get paid more than doctors already. There's nothing to gain there.
They offer detailed salary statistics, with breakdowns by role, experience, education, etc. - bringing these into negotiations have already paid for my union dues like 100x. Wages aren't about the absolute amount; they're about what the market rates are for your skills, which have nothing to do with arbitrary thresholds like $100k+.
They also offer contract / offer review to help you understand if an offer is legal and fair. They have social events, workshops, wine clubs (!), etc. They'll provide advice on continuing education paths and what's likely to be relevant. When layoffs started, they sent out special newsletters reminding people of legal severance minimums if you're laid off, and of your rights when you suddenly find yourself handling extra responsibilities if you weren't. (Here that can be considered a constructive change in role, which can force a re-negotiation of salary upwards.)
Since unions are well established here, there's no risk to joining one; practically everyone does.
For all this (and other things), I pay...about $15/mo equivalent. Pretty worth it, IMHO.
Hobbies aren't work.
(Hobbies that have become your day job or are a significant portion of income are no longer hobbies)
None of that applies to software development which is a global phenomena.
Many jobs are more difficult than hacking on Angular bs all day, it’s not like most devs implicitly deserve the high pay they enjoy here in the States.
Not to mention, most people are far more likely to pay for a movie than for a piece of software, excluding video games.
Hollywood filmmaking is indeed not a universal phenoma. There are other centers of filmmaking outside the US that aren't part of this guild.