I look forward to a future where bright young engineers spend their twenties bussing tables while trying to get into the software guild.

It's worth pointing out that in those situations unions aren't better for all workers. Also notice there's a strong gig economy component to establishing professional credentials.

Of course. Which can be evidenced by the working conditions in the film industry for the typical staff and the lack of diversity at the top.

> The unions require a certain amount of work experience to join and some have different levels of membership depending on how much work you do after joining.

To users who are following along who aren't familiar, this is not how all unions works. Presumably the commenter is talking about "trade unions" which is one of many types of unions.

>Because everyone prefers union workers

Everyone? What union are you talking about?

Everyone in the US film industry for these unions: https://castifi.com/2020/03/24/list-of-film-industry-unions/

There's way more union members than there is work. So if the pay's the same for union or non-union (not much either way), why wouldn't you go with union labor?

The pay for union members could be higher depending on the type of production it is. For large scale television shows, if the show has gone into season 2, 3, etc, the pay scale will increase per season. For commercials and indie projects, it can be the same as non-union rates.

When hiring union members, there's more paperwork to fill out and regulations that the production will have. For example, union members must be paid within a certain timeframe or else there will be late fees the production will need to pay. This is not the case with non-union members. Generally, it is a lot easier and less expensive to hire non-union workers if you can get away with it.