All opinions and discussions are welcome whether you agree or disagree.
We're in the single best market for developer talent that has ever been, where a guy who is provably good at what he does can negotiate rates at double, triple, even 10X the going rate for a senior developer. In that light, what sane person would voluntarily pin himself to a Union-esque system where he is paid on a scale determined by seniority?
Ask a simple question, get a simple answer: The bottom 50%.
If you're provably bad at what you do, or are unable or unwilling to negotiate your way away from the middle/bottom of the pack then yes, maybe, a union might make sense. But leave the rest of us out of it.
It's just too good here. The last thing we want is some fool to come by and ruin it.
The market for tech employees looks great, to my untrained eyes, but I hear a lot of grumbling from my dev friends in the states that the salaries they are being offered are quite low. I'm not certain how to reconcile those data points. I wonder whether it would be wise for devs to consider unionizing now. It certainly makes more sense to play that card when the industry has limited power over the labor force. If power shifts in favor of industry, it will probably be too late to do anything about it.
There is no reason to expect a union of software developers to rigidly follow the example of blue collar unions.
Agesism in tech
Non payment for employees or contractors
Protect programmers refusing tasks on ethical grounds
Establish ethical standards
Better working conditions - quiet offices, not open floor plans
Working from home when practical
minimum vacation time (not pooled with sick days)
No 2 day exploding offers
Dignity in job interviews
(Can you guys think of any more?)
I think if our unions were more like Germany's which have board representation and pay determined by collective bargaining - then I'd be more inclined to join.
Another difference between the UK and Germany is what happens to workers when technological innovation occurs. For example there have been strikes by the RMT union against driverless trains on London's underground.
Initially this appears to be counter-progressive, striking against what is an advancement in technology. In Germany these workers would be retrained so that their careers would not be destroyed. The UK does not retrain workers when they are made redundant.
http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/it-might-be-t...
Dev market in most places are efficient enough; so no I wouldn't.
Adding a new middle-man into the talent/employer mix sucks value out of that relationship. You can always assert your rights by employing your talents elsewhere.
I can't reconcile a Bar-like association or a trade union with the wonderful stories of things like Apple starting in a garage or Facebook by a student, or the super coders like RMS programming a new gigantic feature to Emacs in a 10-hour sprint.