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What conditions or events happened for people in these other "professional" unions to start organizing? I think people only take action en masse when clear ince

What conditions or events happened for people in these other "professional" unions to start organizing? I think people only take action en masse when clear incentives exist. I can't see what cultural incentives there are to organize, except within the socialist DSA/Chapo crowds and I'm not sure I can be safely optimistic that everyone is there for the right reasons. I hope to be wrong. I don't know much about labor organizing but I think the base of tech workers is fractured, with the labor-minded in the minority, and centrists and radical libertarians making up huge swaths of junior developers (For example the user that reflexively brought up union thugs slashing tires, as if no corporation has ever conspired to commit crimes in response to competition). Labor organizing, or however you want to phrase it, has a bad "politics smell" to so many.

tptacek 9y ago
The tech labor force skews liberal (simply as a result of demographics), but if you see it as being dominated by either political extreme, that's much more likely to be an observer effect than reality. Contrary to the impression you'd get from message boards, there aren't that many "radical libertarians" or that many "democratic socialists" working in a typical company. The only way organization will happen is if it's done for the benefit of the median tech employee. That employee might not be totally apolitical, but they are more worried about the practical realities of their career than they are about tech's place among the great labor unions of US history. My point is just, it's pretty clear that there are plenty of industry-wide grievances that not only could be fixed, but could be fixed to the betterment of the entire industry, making companies stronger, more efficient, and more survivable. Given the opportunity tech workers have now with market power and large employers presenting clear targets to organize against, I'd argue that conditions are pretty good for organizing today.

tptacek 9y ago

The tech labor force skews liberal (simply as a result of demographics), but if you see it as being dominated by either political extreme, that's much more likely to be an observer effect than reality. Contrary to the impression you'd get from message boards, there aren't that many "radical libertarians" or that many "democratic socialists" working in a typical company. The only way organization will happen is if it's done for the benefit of the median tech employee. That employee might not be totally apolitical, but they are more worried about the practical realities of their career than they are about tech's place among the great labor unions of US history. My point is just, it's pretty clear that there are plenty of industry-wide grievances that not only could be fixed, but could be fixed to the betterment of the entire industry, making companies stronger, more efficient, and more survivable. Given the opportunity tech workers have now with market power and large employers presenting clear targets to organize against, I'd argue that conditions are pretty good for organizing today.