I used to work at the Free Software Foundation which is unionized.

Glitch (prior to being bought by Fastly) was also unionized, but the unionization stopped after Fastly.

never

if you can't unionize FAANG, there is no point, its like the UAW but they never got into GM or Ford

you will never unionize FAANG:

the highest paid ICs will see no point, a union is just leveling them down and forcing them to join ranks with people they don't really care that much about

the lowest tiered employees are fungible and can be terminated before they can organize

HN will want to reflexively downvote this, but think it through...how do you unionize the entire engineering dept at a place like Apple? its not possible

Hopefully never; if tech/CS was heavily unionized work I never would have joined the field.

There are a ton of unionized industries, if you like unions so much you should join them. If all the heavily unionized industries look terrible consider if there's a reason for that

Gonna recommend folks read https://aworkinglibrary.com/reading/you-deserve-a-tech-union

Very much believe that unions, and power to the workers, are very important!

Honestly, what is the value proposition of a Union to Tech workers? Tech workers tend to well paid and given somewhat wider latitude and freedom than a lot of other professions. In most cases, there isn't really a reason we need to look to a Union for anything.

Unions are cool. If someone writes unions are bad he is a FAANG bot. FAANG fears unions.

Until the highest paid ICs take to heart that they are still “labor” and not part of the ownership class, regardless of how much lottery ticket, second- and third-class, unpreferred stock they own, unionization will never take off. They will have to understand that really, they’re no different than the interns or the janitors employed at their respective companies. I believe it will become necessary sooner or later because even the oh-so-learned technorati have their breaking point.

I hope that AI, in whatever form, hastens this. People are probably in for a rude awakening.

Do you think the union can get me a great salary working from home 5 days a week like I have now?

Tech workers will start creating unions once they get sick and tired of the current system. That's the one we all live in today where

1) Young developers are pitted against older developers in an effort to drive down the salaries of everyone in the industry.

2) You can be fired at any time for any reason.

3) The whims of management (i.e., workplace politics) are the primary force behind whether or not you are promoted, whether or not you are disciplined, your work assignments, and your career progression.

4) Your working conditions (see "remote work) can be changed at a moment's notice in an effort to make you quit your job, accept a lower salary, or as a backdoor justification to otherwise discriminate against you.

5) Layoffs can happen at any time for any reason (or a reason that's completely made up by your CEO -- see "AI" for the current made up reason of the year), and you have no recourse. You have no right to transfer to another position in your company, return to your job after the economic conditions improve, and often have to sign NDAs or agree to ridiculous conditions to collect your severance (if one is even offered)

6) Threats to outsource your job to a foreign company/"AI" are constantly in the air in an effort to make you feel like you deserve less, work more hours, and constantly audition for your job day in and day out.

You're not exempt from any of this if you're a highly-paid IC who is reading this, by the way. In fact, you should know that they really resent having to pay you your big salary (that's their money), which is why you're always going to have a target on your back. You don't think the managers who currently make less than you get paid aren't resentfully eyeing your line on their spreadsheet?

The way to stop all of this is to unionize. Don't you think it's about time?

Unions won't prevent AI or layoffs. This is like asking Unions to prevent using a car over the horse and buggy, because there will be job loss. Even if you could do this, why would you want to?

Unions also generally don't work for tech workers because as an individual, you can can make more than the collective. Why would I want to wait for everyone at my position to get a raise before I get one?

This works for positions that don't require that much skill and almost anyone can do.

From the comments I wonder if unions mean the same in the US and in Europe.

We have unions everywhere and they bargain for everyone. You do not need to be unionized to have advantages - they are the same for everyone.

Unions can be annoying but ultimately the good outweights the bag: we have days off, sick days, firing is difficult etc.

Personally, I hope never. I am in one right now and there is no such thing as "brotherhood" but a grift to drain the corp like a stuck pig to the point of death. It's extremely annoying not being able to fix the problems you know exist because it's not in our contract. Or the DEEP fear of automation because my coworkers refuse to learn new skills and are timeservers and do nothing because they are protected.

If you can avoid it, stay as far away as you can. The gains do not outweigh the cost.

Rant over.

When it's too late.

The problem isn't just a lack of solidarity, but a codependency on corporations and a lack of worker-owned co-ops as a more sustainable alternative.