I met recently with Jason Greer, a labor persuader whose job it is to work with companies on ways to improve workers' conditions to alleviate the need for unionization. Jason is a fount of wisdom on how unions work and what they do for workers, as he was with the National Labor Relations Board for several years.
With union membership falling in the country, the need for unions to grow their base is paramount, and Jason pointed out that technology workers are a natural constituency for union organizers. High-paying jobs have been replaced by contract work, outsourcing, and off-shoring, and technology workers seem ripe to organize for collective bargaining.
The conventional wisdom is that tech workers are too independent and too well-off to organize. On the average, workers in technology companies are treated better than other professions, and in a union, the meteoric rise in salary that most young tech workers see in their mid-20's is a powerful incentive they won't want to give up (union pay is based on time in, not merit).
But that doesn't mean people aren't trying. Organizations like WashTech are seeking to 1) organize tech workers, and 2) let other workers know that WashTech has their back. The site has a lot of useful information, and if you are so inclined, I'm sure they would welcome your support. Personally, I'm not a fan of unions. I think the track records of unions in the last 40 years has been abysmal, and proof that people who say they are working for the good of the people can't help skimming a lot off the top.
But that doesn't mean it will always be the case. A good union is a benefit to the country, and usually a sign that corporations have gone too far. I wonder how attractive the high tech union will be in the next recession?
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