
Why isn't there a software union or guild? - face_mcgace
We (software developers) wield an extraordinary amount of power inside organizations - but why haven&#x27;t we banded together to harness this? With sexism, ageism, etc. we have a real chance to influence the workplace. I know that we find ourselves in a comfortable position doing work we enjoy but shouldn&#x27;t we be worried about the wider society (poverty in the US, monopolistic practices, etc)? Mars colonization and asteroid mining is fine and all - but what&#x27;s the point if society is devolving into a neo-Gilded age and a large portion of society isn&#x27;t even able to have access to basic necessities (food, shelter, healthcare)? We have an important opportunity in front of us to enact real change - why don&#x27;t we form a union or guild to achieve this?
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rpiguy
The answer to your question is multi-dimensional and very long. I am assuming
your question applies to the US, as other countries do have unionized
technology workers.

\- Historically Engineers were considered white collar, and draftsman, machine
operators, and assemblers were considered blue collar

\- Software engineers used to be a distinct culture, different from both
management (Jocks/Frat Boys), and blue collar workers - this has changed
dramatically in the last 30 years and the divisions have blurred

\- Early hackers were egalitarian but distrusting of central authority, they
were rebels, loner rebels do not form unions.

\- Ayn Rand, objectivism, etc. had a strong influence on computer scientists,
engineers, etc. That influence has waned. It was once very common for
engineering schools to have objectivist clubs, now they are rare.

\- Tech workers, despite being pushed to ridiculous hours, rarely looked at
themselves as victims in the past. Sure you didn't shower for a week, but you
were making bank getting to build new and exciting things. Today the job is
less exciting and you are more likely to be maintaining someone else's mess
than inventing something new.

\- Even if you were laid off in the 70s and 80s you felt very secure because
tech was booming, you could go somewhere else. That changed in the 90s,
despite the dot com boom, the balance finally shifted to where there were
enough tech workers to not guarantee you would be be immediately hired
elsewhere.

\- Unions are widely distrusted among the US population. Yes they gave us the
40 hour work week and weekends, but they are often seen as obstruction to
change not agents of change.

\- A lot of people in the US simply don't like unions.

There are a lot of reasons to not like unions, but that was not your question.

I am personally in favor of unions in the private sector, but not in the
public sector. I am against compulsory membership and believe unions should be
more transparent.

Edit: also I was thinking about it and collective bargaining power for tech is
probably even worse now than it once was because many companies could just
move software engineering overseas.

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Msq3
Software devs are just like the rest of the population. There is a wide
spectrum of views. It's a mistake to think developing software binds us all
together in values.

A better approach is to be specific issue based and attract devs that may have
the same interests.

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sharemywin
I personally feel like there needs to be better consumer groups. Imagine if a
million people grouped together to get a better deal at a bank or cable
company. or better terms in a TOS agreement with an online company.

