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Software developers have enjoyed decades of high demand for their skills and the companies that hired them have enjoyed decades of an abundance of capital again

Software developers have enjoyed decades of high demand for their skills and the companies that hired them have enjoyed decades of an abundance of capital against a low interest rate. You didn't need a union because you had leverage due to the demand for your skills and companies didn't need to be particularly efficient. This was a time where companies were hiring talented developers just to deny them to their competitors. Nobody was interested in shaking up that status quo by becoming part of a union.

Arainach 1y ago
You need a union when there's demand precisely because there will be down times.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  People were never good at thinking about a pessimistic future to plan ahead BEFORE the shit hits the fan. Those who did were sidelined as naysayers or buzzkills. Just look at European government run pension systems which are basically legal pyramid schemes, that everyone knows are unsustainable the way things are going right now, but nobody wants to do anything about it when it's more convenient to kick the can down the road until it become a problem under someone else's watch.
- red-iron-pine 1y ago
  and we're hitting that point. now. but the gist of the parent's arguement is that we didn't before. also keep in mind that unions first popped up in places were people were, like, dying, or getting maimed: trains, mines, electrical, gasfitters, ironworkers. up until now programming has been easy money sitting indoors while sipping lattes.
  - Arainach 1y ago
    You form the union while you have leverage, not in the down times. The first unions aren't the only kind. Unions benefit all sorts of fields. They continue to fight on behalf of labor. In all fields, management and labor are at odds and management has a collective bargaining voice so labor needs one too.
pjmlp 1y ago
As I write on a sibling comment, in many European countries, unions are by industry sector, not specific professionals, so everyone on the sector is able to enjoy being part of union agreements, regardless of their roles.

Arainach 1y ago

You need a union when there's demand precisely because there will be down times.

FirmwareBurner 1y ago
People were never good at thinking about a pessimistic future to plan ahead BEFORE the shit hits the fan. Those who did were sidelined as naysayers or buzzkills. Just look at European government run pension systems which are basically legal pyramid schemes, that everyone knows are unsustainable the way things are going right now, but nobody wants to do anything about it when it's more convenient to kick the can down the road until it become a problem under someone else's watch.
red-iron-pine 1y ago
and we're hitting that point. now. but the gist of the parent's arguement is that we didn't before. also keep in mind that unions first popped up in places were people were, like, dying, or getting maimed: trains, mines, electrical, gasfitters, ironworkers. up until now programming has been easy money sitting indoors while sipping lattes.
- Arainach 1y ago
  You form the union while you have leverage, not in the down times. The first unions aren't the only kind. Unions benefit all sorts of fields. They continue to fight on behalf of labor. In all fields, management and labor are at odds and management has a collective bargaining voice so labor needs one too.

pjmlp 1y ago

As I write on a sibling comment, in many European countries, unions are by industry sector, not specific professionals, so everyone on the sector is able to enjoy being part of union agreements, regardless of their roles.