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having some experience with unions by hearing stories and watching the news That's not really an experience, is it? Yeah, I heard lot of dark stories about uni

having some experience with unions by hearing stories and watching the news That's not really an experience, is it? Yeah, I heard lot of dark stories about unions as well (corruption, nepotism, violence, dirty politics, mafia connections - usually it's one out of these), and there's a lot to improve but then again: unlike governments and corporations unions don't own powerful media outlets to fix their PR, do they? Also, who says the developers' union has to be like the other unions. After all we are the people who "think different". Anyway, just take a look how it works in Hollywood. Basically the only profession there which doesn't have its strong union/guild are the special effects people. And while the movie mega-corporations make billions on superhero franchises the FX companies go bust one after another.[1][2] Do you remember the Writers' Strike?[3] The corporations agreed to share their profits with writers only after 12 000 union members were striking for over 3 months. Another example: the case of Julie Ann Horvath at GitHub. She asked HR to be a mediator between her and the company's founder[4]. She cried during that meeting and HR did nothing. I wouldn't blame them, they too risked their employment there. That's unions job, that what unions are needed for: to protect you from your employer. In the end, it's a harsh world we live in and we have to cope with it. So, why don't we make things a bit easier for ourselves? Historically, every major technological advancement (industrial revolution, introduction of cars, and so on) poured vast new wealth into the hands of entrepreneurs and investors, while common workers either lost their jobs or had to work much harder. That's when unions were "invented", that's when eight-hour working day was fought for[5] - basically that's when current shape of the Western society was molded. We have various means that protect the existence of the middle class[6] to this day. Yet, we now observe a new industrial revolution and - that amazes me - the hard-workers that propel this revolution are voluntarily waiving their most valuable rights. Not only that, they (we!) are more eager to defend billion dollar corporations' not paying a cent of taxes than to ask for medical aid for a colleague. software developers are amongst the most adaptable people of all industries When you're 40-50, got over 20 years of experience, two kids in high school/college and a mortgage the last thing you ever want is to adapt to a new line of work and start from scratch. This one, I believe, don't need a citation. 1) http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323864304578316414057909902 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142412788732386430... 2) http://www.ibtimes.com/vfx-oscars-march-visual-effects-workers-plan-academy-awards-protest-hollywood-corporate-welfare http://www.ibtimes.com/vfx-oscars-march-visual-effects-worke... 3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–08_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–08_Writers_Guild_of_Americ... 4) http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/15/julie-ann-horvath-describes-sexism-and-intimidation-behind-her-github-exit/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/15/julie-ann-horvath-describes... 5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day 6) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/who-owns-the-future-jaron-lanier/1114146780 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/who-owns-the-future-jaron-la...

bad_user 13y ago
When I said stories, I'm speaking of stories of close acquaintances and family. When I said news - I'm speaking of mass protests of employees from the public administrative sectors, that blocked the city I live in several times for, tam, tam, political reasons, right before the elections, with their only purpose being to show up on TV - while the people that pay their salaries, the rest of us, didn't have the time to organize protests against them, since we actually have to work for a living. I'm also speaking of teachers in public schools that are paid with dirt and their union doesn't do shit about it, with my old high-school teachers literally worrying about putting food on the table. > Historically, every major technological advancement (industrial revolution, introduction of cars, and so on) poured vast new wealth into the hands of entrepreneurs and investors, while common workers either lost their jobs or had to work much harder. I totally agree that this sucks. I'm not convinced about unions as the solution. Maybe you're right.

bad_user 13y ago

When I said stories, I'm speaking of stories of close acquaintances and family. When I said news - I'm speaking of mass protests of employees from the public administrative sectors, that blocked the city I live in several times for, tam, tam, political reasons, right before the elections, with their only purpose being to show up on TV - while the people that pay their salaries, the rest of us, didn't have the time to organize protests against them, since we actually have to work for a living. I'm also speaking of teachers in public schools that are paid with dirt and their union doesn't do shit about it, with my old high-school teachers literally worrying about putting food on the table. > Historically, every major technological advancement (industrial revolution, introduction of cars, and so on) poured vast new wealth into the hands of entrepreneurs and investors, while common workers either lost their jobs or had to work much harder. I totally agree that this sucks. I'm not convinced about unions as the solution. Maybe you're right.