[bitshepherd]

I was almost there with you until the bit about the gig economy. This reads more like an advert for Upwork.

People giving up leverage with labor just gives 'them' the upper hand. Why it's so hard for tech workers to band together over something as common as income is the problem, regardless of the disparity.

Teachers in my area are striking over much less money than tech workers fritter away on a daily basis. Sometimes it's worth standing outside with signs and waving at people passing.

[goupy]

There is no incentive. I get paid well and I am constantly getting called by recruiters from other blue chips and hot startups.

Tech workers will band together the day that ends. Not anytime soon. Same on Wall Street or with Snowdens colleagues in govt.

[bitshepherd]

The incentive to come together as a group is not about how much an individual is paid, but to come together over a common ground and influence change that benefits the many over the few. Income is one of the most common things to throw out there because it encompasses pretty much everyone's life.

An individual can be paid handsomely, even if the group average is a fraction of the individual's number. Though you believe you are paid well, and you may very well be, it does not mean actions do not happen to suppress the momentum of someone sitting a desk or two away working toward the same goal as you.

[gaius]

A traditional union with collectively-bargained pay grades and seniority probably wouldn’t work in hi-tech but an even more traditional mediaeval style guild could work very well indeed.

[rpvnwnkl]

Right: the guild certifies members are of a certain skill level, helping the members better negotiate for pay, time-off and other work terms.

Pay has not been an issue, but overwork has been, and so has the interview process. A union/guild backing could help with this.

[repolfx]

How would a guild ascertain skill level except by doing relatively tough interviews?

[gaius]

The same way the professional engineers do e.g. chartered status I guess. The exact details we’d work out later.

[smolder]

The same ways that schools measure, through testing.

[repolfx]

And what is an interview if not a test? Or are you advocating written exams only - I don't see why this would be better than a well designed interview process.

[rpvnwnkl]

You don’t have to do it over and over for each job you apply for?

It also takes some onus off the hiring team to ascertain the technical abilities of prospective hires. “Just get me a guild member!” Now you can interview on other qualities...

[Wohlf]

I think most (but not all) fields would find a traditional union too limiting and frustrating these days, not to mention the issues with corruption they are plagued with in the US. A flexible and modern hybrid with a guild type system, more like a framework than a prescriptive structure, could get a lot of people on board.

[bitshepherd]

Sysadmins have guild-style organizations (see: USENIX, LOPSA) but they've not had as much impact on hiring and income as would like to be believed. If anything, they've served as a filter for HR, who immediately tried to weaponize it.

I'm not saying a traditional union is the Way, but tech workers as a whole are severely lacking a cohesive voice, any voice. The egregious hiring practices, which have been turned into a game at the highest levels, are symptoms of this madness. When was the last time a doctor had to bring Frankenstein's monster back from the grave with no tools while blindfolded? In tech, that's a fairly typical interview question.

It shows in the amount of overwork-related discussions, shrugged off as part of being a highly-paid, salaried employee. All the while, sharing on LinkedIn this great new shiny your company's CEO really, really wants people to see.

[justfor1comment]

A big chunk of bay area tech workers are on the H1B visa. If they get fired, they might have to go back to their home countries. They simply cannot take the risk of losing their job (almost a $100K downside) for the chance of 10% salary increase ($10K upside).