[wattt]

Wow you and I live in alternate universes. In my experience, and having been without work at various times, and freelancing... I believe developers are scarce. You need an aptitude and some (self?) training to take part and a lot of people can't be bothered.

That being said, I see you describe yourself as a "pinko commie" and as a business owner who was at one time a union administrator in a past life I would never hire you, so perhaps that explains the bubble you are living in.

[NoPiece]

Good developers are scarce, bad ones aren't.

[tacostakohashi]

I think this is probably the crux of why organizing isn't appealing for developers / tech workers.

There is huge disparity and in worker skill levels, productivity and salaries. Lots of mediocre developers on, say $60,000, but also lots of guys on $150,000 and up, with pretty different concerns (e.g., maybe the guy on $200,000 can live with a few late nights).

Pretty different from, say, auto workers or bus drivers where you have thousands of staff at the same skill and salary level, with the same interests and concerns.

[wattt]

I guess if you aren't good you start calling yourself a "pinko commie" as if it was a virtue!

[specialist]

"as a business owner ... I would never hire you"

Darn.