Here's a bit of an implementation detail question I have wondered about unionizing in tech, within software engineering specifically - how would a union work in a field where the lines between managers and employees are so blurred? Most companies have a parallel IC track where the most senior ICs are paid more and are more senior at the company than many managers. And there are tech leads/team leads that have no reports and aren't managers but are in leadership positions.
From what I understand, even middle-managers are usually not allowed to unionize or allowed to talk to other employees about unions. Where would the line be in tech? If you decide to switch from the IC to manager track, do you have to leave the union?
Just the mere fact that this seems like such an odd distinction, because IC software engineers are generally treated just as well as if not better than managers, makes me step back and wonder what problem we would actually be trying to solve by unionizing within the engineering track. What would the tangible benefits be?
On the other hand I'm already imagining of all sorts of potential downsides. A lot of tech companies tend to be very open about company details with employees. In my experience, most managers tend to work very collaboratively with their employees in terms of helping them set goals and figure out a path to getting a promotion. There often feels like there genuinely is alignment between the company and employees - if the company does well, employees tend to do well. Not just because they already own stock in the company, but also because companies tend to expand when they're doing well and this opens up opportunities to promote from within. I imagine all of these dynamics would completely change in a world with tech unions, where the employees and the company would be pitted against each other.