This is such a weird response. Do you collectively interview for other jobs? No. Would you tell any other union this? No. Collectively bargain for your current job and raise the standards for everyone now and in the future. I don't know why tech is so hyper-individualist.
It doesn't raise standards. It squishes them at both ends, particularly the top. That might be what you want, but tech salaries have bloomed massively because there isn't a union. You might say "that's over; now let's lock in our massive salaries", but I doubt it'll work that way.
Tech isn't hyper-individualist. It just leans slightly to the individual, because any half-decent tech worker is worth a lot to an organisation, and they don't need a union rep to negotiate on their (and hundreds of other people's) behalf.
> I'm surprised that supply and demand never crossed your mind as the reason for high tech salaries
No need to be surprised - it more than crossed my mind.
> Professional athletes, actors, and screenwriters enjoy both high salaries and union protections
Well, screenwriters aren't in the same ballpark as the other two, but the highly paid athletes and actors are not having their wages negotiated by a union rep. They have agents. Most actors are barely paid anything, and have union membership.
You declared there are high salaries in software because "there isn't a union". Supply and demand didn't factor in.
Food service and retail workers are not widely unionized. Do they have high salaries?
> the highly paid athletes and actors are not having their wages negotiated by a union rep
So then you understand even with a union, workers can be free to negotiate their own wages. The union doesn't necessarily hold superstars back from earning their true market value.
Due to its infancy software's low regulation, barrier to entry, and capital needed makes for one of the few equitable areas left for a person from a disadvantaged background to wind up decently rich if they play their cards right and/or get lucky.
Precisely why it's always under attack. Corps with simple technical objectives accrue thousands of developers into an org chart so dense it's a productivity black hole: anything to justify keeping wages down for the actual workers.
Jeez why do people think I'm against the union? This is a forum for asking questions and understanding the world. I truly didn't mean to discourage unionization, I was curious about the thinking behind joining the union. It's sad that even on a tech forum people assume things about each other's political opnions instead of discussing.
I think this was a fair question to ask and I'm not really understanding why you're being attacked for it. For a strike to be effective, the union collectively bargaining via a strike needs to have clearly defined, but also realistic demands.
