[Iftheshoefits]

It's easy to explain to lower/middle-class Americans outside of tech who are in union jobs. That's because they understand that one thing a robust union does is help prevent (or at least mitigate) this kind of collusion before it starts. My wife earns 1/3 of my salary, but does a far more important job for society. She comes from a state in which the unions used to be strong. She immediately understood what the implications of this collusion were, and didn't need me to even explain why the lawsuit is a good thing.

They understand that different workers earn different salaries, and they get that "paid below fair market wage" means what it means, regardless of what "fair market wage" is the calibration.

But we can't have unions or talk of unions in the software industry, because that might upset the rather hilariously mistaken insider perception of this industry as being a meritocracy.