A tech workers' union means not only the mandatory imposition of dues (don't need any more little cuts out of my paycheck), fixed hiring qualifications that are pretty likely to evolve into full-blown licensing (i.e., the end of the self-taught professional), removal of the right to independently negotiate, and affirmative action, but also a large, opaque body that engages primarily in political activities like lobbying and negotiations with very little oversight or transparency.
The benefits of a union are protection from predatory employment policies. That may be necessary in some fields, but in programming, it isn't. Most devs I know can have a new job within a few weeks if they don't like their employers' policies, and most employers I know appreciate the difficulty in sourcing good software talent so they don't want to do much to piss them off.
Here's some more links about him, if the one above doesn't make the point clearly enough:
- http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Berman
- http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/companies/2006-07-31-lo...
- http://www.cbsnews.com/news/meet-rick-berman-aka-dr-evil/
- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/us/politics/18berman.html?...
You know, just FYI.