[xvector]

Unions are not effective at getting you to high comps. They will only get you to a middle of the road comp.

The seniority based structure is effectively a penalty on high achievers. Why should a union member be paid more just because they've worked there longer?

Big tech is a fantastic example of employment working without unions.

[arunabha]

But unions don't automatically imply seniority based wages, or even uniform wages. The SAG and the NFL players unions are the most obvious examples.

Also the last two years should have taught the tech rank and file that the good times don't always last. As much as we'd like to believer we all are 10x rockstar devs, the reality is that an overwhelming majority are not. Further, even being the 'best of the best' engineer is no guarantee that you won't be screwed over by management. Woz is a highly visible example and I guarantee you that the odds of anyone on HN(let alone the overall tech industry) being a better engineer are essentially zero.