They think a union would be a bit like a homeowners association - in principle owned and run by them and never acting against their interests, but in practice a threat as much as an opportunity.
There aren't many supposedly-good organizations in the US.
According to Gallup[1], in 2019 there were only three institutions in which more than half of Americans had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of trust: the military, police, and small business. The police probably lost that trust recently, leaving only small business and the military.
Only 29% trusted organized labor, which puts it below the presidency, in 2019. But even fewer trust big business, and trust in organized labor has been rising, so there might be some hope for unions.
1: https://news.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.as...
It is a universal human tendency that is strongly in effect here at the current time and place.
How did this happen?
That desire for exclusion and enforced superiority appeals to some more than others. So it's unsurprising to me that HOA boards frequently turn out awful.
Happily, as older, first-ring suburbs turn into cities in their own right, we're seeing some reversal of that. E.g., as kids and grandkids stay in the area, we're seeing demographic and income diversification. Some places are realizing that things they've previously excluded, like drug treatment and publicly supported housing, are now necessary.
Definitely.
> Political parties?
Check. There are only 2, and cynicism towards both of them is pretty high, as neither really represents the people.
> News?
Check as well. See Fox News, which actually delivers "entertainment" disguised as news.
> Boy scouts?
Probably not, but who knows?
Disclaimer: Not an American, just a Canadian that follows US new a bit.
> Probably not, but who knows?
Just a long history of homophobia there.
I just assume that it's almost never going to be the case.
It might look like it's created by worker, but it's created by a sub group of workers which is unhappy with a status quo. This effort will be led by even smaller sub group of activists that have a drive and skillset to organise and weasel into a leadership positions.
Worker run union seems to be even more implausible. It's going to be run by a managerial body composed of said activists, which I absolutely expect to be self-serving, rent seeking and, well, parasitic. Occasionally their interests will coincide with interests of workers they represent, but that will be just some happy accidents.
True in principle, but rarely in practice.
Hollywood also has an endless supply of enthusiastic young people. To me this sounds like an argument in favor of unionizing the game dev industry.
Your point about the Hollywood unions is a great one. Like tech, in Hollywood everybody has clear incentives to create a great final product. Positive-sum thinking usually part of the culture. In that context, I think unions can be a big help, especially when there are such large wealth and power differentials between the bosses and the workers.
I also think your former colleagues' seeming lack of agency is weird. The union is something the workers create and run. If they think a union they create would be bad, what are they saying about themselves?