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Seeing the wage difference in Europe and the UK even for enterprise developers let alone those who work for major (mostly American based ) tech companies, is no

Seeing the wage difference in Europe and the UK even for enterprise developers let alone those who work for major (mostly American based ) tech companies, is not a rousing endorsement for unions for developers

Herring 10mo ago
When your fascists get done with you, if there's anything left, you'll deeply wish you had spent that wage difference to get rid of them. Inequality is very corrosive to society. Europe had to learn that lesson the hard way too.
- raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
  While I support mostly liberal causes - I consider myself a liberal not a leftists - like an increased social safety net, universal healthcare etc, unions are just a bridge too far. But me personally, at 51, I have said before that I plan to go by the Ben Kenobi strategy. When things get too bad, my wife and I will just become hermits somewhere and when the evil empire comes looking for us just give up and die. We are seriously looking at “Plan B” countries to live in after retirement and are planning to spend 6 weeks in one of those countries starting next month. I work remotely.
  - Herring 10mo ago
    lol good luck. Both of those are way harder than paying union dues. And there's no guarantee the empire won't find you wherever you go. War is an excellent counter to inequality, it works much better than progressive taxation or collective bargaining.
    - raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
      It’s a lot easier when you make 3x the comp of the average developer in the EU and I am not even in BigTech (anymore). I can absolutely guarantee you that the average enterprise CRUD developer living in a 2nd tier US city is better off than a developer in the EU. Let alone the top 10-20% working in BigTech or equivalent.
      - Herring 10mo ago
        The empire will find you wherever you go. https://www.brusselstimes.com/1916422/us-tech-giants-allying-with-european-far-right-to-strip-back-eu-rules https://www.brusselstimes.com/1916422/us-tech-giants-allying...
      - fastasucan 10mo ago
        Have you factored in healthcare costs, welfare (if you ever need that), childcare/kindergarten costs, benefit of living in a safe society, sick leave, holiday, worker protection, better work/life balance etc when you say better off?
        raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
        Yes my “if I lose my job” budget includes $1000 month for health insurance on the open market or my wife still has her CDL. She doesn’t with now. But she could easily get a job as a school bus driver and get insurance. That was basically why she worked for the first 8 years of our marriage. Every professional company gives sick leave (usually 10 days), holidays (usually 10 days), paid vacation (usually 15-20 days), I have never had a job where I was expected to work for more than 40 hours a week in 30 years across 10 jobs. If it did, I would get another job . If you make three times the wages, it pays for a lot of stuff - including self funding your emergency fund, child care cost etc.
  - rcbdev 10mo ago
    How is an increased social safety net a liberal policy? Most liberal parties in Europe want to lower taxes / social-security payments. (see FDP, NEOS, etc.)
    - raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
      Those are considered left policies in the US.
fastasucan 10mo ago
Thats an extremely simplistic view of things? All else is equal? Why do you think that is a product of unions?
- raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
  So tell me how would I union improve my life as a worker in tech? I don’t make the eye popping BigTech salaries (been there done that). I spent my entire long career until 2020 as an enterprise Dev in a second tier city.

Herring 10mo ago

When your fascists get done with you, if there's anything left, you'll deeply wish you had spent that wage difference to get rid of them. Inequality is very corrosive to society. Europe had to learn that lesson the hard way too.

raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
While I support mostly liberal causes - I consider myself a liberal not a leftists - like an increased social safety net, universal healthcare etc, unions are just a bridge too far. But me personally, at 51, I have said before that I plan to go by the Ben Kenobi strategy. When things get too bad, my wife and I will just become hermits somewhere and when the evil empire comes looking for us just give up and die. We are seriously looking at “Plan B” countries to live in after retirement and are planning to spend 6 weeks in one of those countries starting next month. I work remotely.
- Herring 10mo ago
  lol good luck. Both of those are way harder than paying union dues. And there's no guarantee the empire won't find you wherever you go. War is an excellent counter to inequality, it works much better than progressive taxation or collective bargaining.
  - raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
    It’s a lot easier when you make 3x the comp of the average developer in the EU and I am not even in BigTech (anymore). I can absolutely guarantee you that the average enterprise CRUD developer living in a 2nd tier US city is better off than a developer in the EU. Let alone the top 10-20% working in BigTech or equivalent.
    - Herring 10mo ago
      The empire will find you wherever you go. https://www.brusselstimes.com/1916422/us-tech-giants-allying-with-european-far-right-to-strip-back-eu-rules https://www.brusselstimes.com/1916422/us-tech-giants-allying...
    - fastasucan 10mo ago
      Have you factored in healthcare costs, welfare (if you ever need that), childcare/kindergarten costs, benefit of living in a safe society, sick leave, holiday, worker protection, better work/life balance etc when you say better off?
      - raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
        Yes my “if I lose my job” budget includes $1000 month for health insurance on the open market or my wife still has her CDL. She doesn’t with now. But she could easily get a job as a school bus driver and get insurance. That was basically why she worked for the first 8 years of our marriage. Every professional company gives sick leave (usually 10 days), holidays (usually 10 days), paid vacation (usually 15-20 days), I have never had a job where I was expected to work for more than 40 hours a week in 30 years across 10 jobs. If it did, I would get another job . If you make three times the wages, it pays for a lot of stuff - including self funding your emergency fund, child care cost etc.
- rcbdev 10mo ago
  How is an increased social safety net a liberal policy? Most liberal parties in Europe want to lower taxes / social-security payments. (see FDP, NEOS, etc.)
  - raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
    Those are considered left policies in the US.

fastasucan 10mo ago

Thats an extremely simplistic view of things? All else is equal? Why do you think that is a product of unions?

raw_anon_1111 10mo ago
So tell me how would I union improve my life as a worker in tech? I don’t make the eye popping BigTech salaries (been there done that). I spent my entire long career until 2020 as an enterprise Dev in a second tier city.