So, I'm all for unionizing, but let's be particularly careful about why we might want to do such a thing. Is it because of job security? No. There's nothing wo

So, I'm all for unionizing, but let's be particularly careful about why we might want to do such a thing. Is it because of job security? No. There's nothing worse in the world then being "secure" at a job working on a codebase you hate--every day, seeing the madness and pointless mud piling up and piling up. In many cases, the company and culture is worse off if you can't readjust teams to retain the people who fit and let go the people who want (or need) gone. Is it because of wages? Somewhat. As programmers, we shoulder a disproportionate part of the responsibility for delivering value to customers and if we do it properly we end up with a product that scales with little intervention. Accordingly, we should reap a better share of the long-term profits. At the same time, even if you aren't in vastly over-inflated talent markets as on the coasts, we generally aren't paid too badly--unless you are in a town were the profession isn't respected, in which case you are getting shafted repeatedly. Is it because of work conditions? Yes. We work a very sedentary job. Many shops expect/require bullshit-long hours and at weird times, and few promote life/balance with anything more than a wink and a nod. There is a large amount of stress involved with our work, especially as deadlines draw near or as code rot becomes apparent. Cognitive dissonance is great, because we aren't allowed to lie to ourselves about reality: we can't, because computers don't deal in lies. Bad code is bad, sales features promised don't exist unless there's code backing them up. Is it because of professionalism? Yes. I can pick a "programmer" out of a set of 100, even from a good school or respected company, and still fin glaring omissions in what they know and how they practice. There's no quality control in what people describing themselves as software engineers or programmers know, and so hiring becomes annoying. This in turn makes the market screwy. ~ A full-blown union would be of questionable utility--I sure as fuck don't want to give any of my paycheck to yet another bureaucracy claiming to represent me well. That said, there may be a good argument for a professional body similar to the ASME or IEEE.