this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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Couldn't agree more as a software engineer who recently switched jobs. Unions are fucking amazing in most industries, but I can't help but feel it would hurt workers more than it would benefit us in tech. You could guarantee 5% a year raises indefinitely and it still wouldn't be enough. Even at companies where you consistently get 10% raises per year + bonus you can just jump and hit 20%+.
Software engineers can also have insane risk tolerance career-wise because we make enough money to build massive emergency funds and investment portfolios to fall back on if things go south. This is all without considering that sometimes you just don't vibe with a team, or you stop learning and want to go elsewhere to expand your skill set. Under a union, which usually awards people based on tenure, you'd be punished for making these sorts of moves despite them making you a better software engineer.
I'm a unionized tech worker going on 15 years and many of my close friends from college have similar career paths minus the unionized position. There are a couple who are now in senior leadership management level and make more, but those wouldn't be unionized positions anyway. Everything considered I make more and have better benefits and conditions as a result of collective bargaining, and all the downsides people bring up I've likely had personal experience with, but when I talk about these things with my private-employer friends it usually leads to, "if you think that's bad..." Like I've seen ineffective people be fired and all that. I've moved around a bit, had promotions to different salary bands, all within the union.
Overall I think given the amount of capital thrown in to tech industry vs how people work and are compensated, it's one of the fertile grounds for organization and worker actions. Especially when it comes to outsourcing work to countries where workers can be more easily exploited because the labor laws are so much worse.
All fair points, and I'm definitely leaning more towards your viewpoint having read them.
I guess I've just never felt the need for them given I've been treated and paid well so far, and I really like the ability to just walk next door at a moment's notice if I so desire. Not that I've ever not given two weeks, but the option to do so, and not feeling like I'm gonna be compensated less due to short tenure is nice. Not that unions have to operate that way, but historically that's the case.
I'm glad it has worked well for you! I'll definitely be more open to joining one in the future, and strongly consider it if the opportunity arises. Thanks for your perspective.
I think with professional-managerial type jobs like ours, we have knowledge that the employers consider valuable and if you're effective in the role you're pretty much able to find a good job, like you have that bargaining chip. That doesn't mean that will always be the case but for now it's pretty good, especially in certain countries. For "replaceable" jobs or ones that involve physical labor and safety the unions are a lot more necessary, especially industrial unions.