A group of Google workers have announced plans to unionize

> That's a wild prediction not based in fact

Correct, it's a prediction based on the job market numbers, I wouldn't call it "wild" though.

> There's an insurmountable skills shortage in tech and always will be.

This is incredibly optimistic and in my opinion very naive view of tech. I've already started seeing wages for junior and mid level engineers decreasing because of the flood of new bootcamp graduates.

> Appetite for automation, efficiency and software solutions is practically unbounded.

Sure, doesn't mean that 10x increase in the labor pool won't effect wages.

> software salaries are sky high because there's no union

Source needed.

> so his salary can be halved

You can't say mine is not based in fact and that pull numbers out of your ass, too, ya dingus.

> Teachers unions ruined education

Source needed.

> dragging salaries down of high performers.

Do you consider yourself a "high performer"? A 10xer? It's hard to judge ourselves accurately, isn't it?

> The best teacher in the US is paid identically to the worst teacher. No wonder education is a disaster.

I would think to blame a great many things for this before I'd put the blame at unions, which have been losing power in the states since at least the 90s, probably earlier. Republicans have been gutting education spending the entire time, too. But sure, it was the big bad unions that did it.

All I'm saying is that tech wages are good right now, but they won't be this good forever, and we should use our current leverage to at least try to situate ourselves into a more solid standing. If you don't think unions are the way to do that, that's fine, but you can't disagree with the numbers. There's an huge flux of new SWE's entering the workforce right now, in 5-10 years it's going to start being a significant factor in wages all the way up to the top skill levels.

That's not how collective bargaining works. A contract has to be negotiated between the union members and management. As a member, you would have a say in the contract that the union negotiates.

For example, I was a member of the organizing committee for the union at my last job where I worked as a software engineer. After the union was recognized, members held an election for all the union's leadership positions as well as for the members of the bargaining committee that negotiates the contract with management. Bargaining sessions between the union and management is completely open for any member of the union to attend. The committee publishes reports to the membership after each bargaining session on the items discussed. Presuming the union and management come agree to the terms that would go into a contract, that tentative agreement is sent to the members of the union to vote on and either accept the terms, or to reject them, in which case the union and management will continue to bargain a new tentative agreement.

What you're describing "tell me I'm signing up for something that I have no idea how it will turn out" is actually what happens when you accept any new job you take. When you accept a job offer, you know a few things, e.g., your salary and benefits, your manager, etc. But there's a lot you wouldn't typically know, e.g., how performance is evaluated and how promotions and raises are determined, what your workload would be and what protections you might have from overwork or excessive discipline or unfair termination.

What a union provides is not only a voice for everyone in the workplace, but for collectively bargaining and making clear the the conditions and treatment you can expect in your workplace.

I'm paid in the 98th percentile for my title and I'm the youngest person with this title in my company, so I think by other people's standards I'm a high performer.

>Republicans have been gutting education spending the entire time

Absolute cop out, considering states control education largely and Californian schools are a mess. Also, why would you even want a higher budget? Since 2000, there's been a growth of 8% in teacher numbers compared to a whopping 75% increase in middle management.

>but you can't disagree with the numbers

I sure can't, hence why I'm amused and not surprised that this ideological union garnered less than 0.1% of Google's workforce in membership.

By joining a union, you are ceding your negotiating power to often corrupt union officials who optimize for protecting the worst employees.

Sorry, but I don't want to work with incompetent people and have the union I pay money to protect them.

Teachers unions protect low performers, sexual predator teachers (multiple instances) and worse. What more proof do you need? They protect child sex predators. Regularly.

> abusive practices from management

I think these Google workers see their demands falling into this category..not saying I agree with every bullet, but it really doesn't seem that different to me.

While I generally support unions, I think this is a pretty bearish signal for Google. I think it totally makes sense for the contractors but less so for the rank and file Googlers as they consistently are at the upper end in the industry benefits and pay.