But speaking cynically, computer programmers have a lot of the clout that unions enjoy, due to market demand and also creating barriers to entry (programming la

But speaking cynically, computer programmers have a lot of the clout that unions enjoy, due to market demand and also creating barriers to entry (programming languages and code bases that are difficult to learn). I refer to it as a guild. Doctors and professors are guilds in a similar fashion. My dad spent his career at a unionized company. There were both union and salaried workers. He was salaried. He experienced all of the frustrations of working in a union shop, such as practically having to bribe people to do things for him like plugging something into an electrical outlet (required an electrician). At some companies, they literally had to bribe people. Non-developers experience many of the same frustrations dealing with software. It's no secret why "shadow IT" is such a game changer for people who can engage in it. My point is that it may be technically true that programmers don't need a union, because they have something that functions like a union.