I don’t need a union. I tell my employer “either I work remotely or I am gone to one of the ten job solicitations I get a week”. Tech workers have enormous individual leverage and there are so many job opportunities out there — the power is already in your hands. Be a part of the market change by putting your money where your mouth is and moving to more adaptive companies if your company fails to adapt.
That doesn’t fix the employer abuse or poor treatment, it just makes it someone else’s problem, ruining the next human who comes along. Lets prevent the ruining or suffering of our fellow humans.
The suffering can persist longer than it takes for the market to reach equilibrium and/or improve. Market forces alone are insufficient, as capitalism in general has demonstrated time and time again.
unions are necessary when there is a power imbalance between workers and corporations. There is currently not a power imbalance between tech workers and corporations so unions are not necessary for tech workers. For other professions where workers have a low amount of power I believe that unions "are good", but for tech I think it is unnecessary. If you are a competent tech worker you have the choice of 100's of potential places to work.
