What that highlights is just how bad the inequality curve really is, that the 0.1% right on one edge have exceptional power to make decisions which make the rest worse off.
What this means is that any tech union is going to have to extend a bit of solidarity out to lower paid and ""lower skilled"" people against whom we have traditionally been snobbish, in order to be successful. See the Hollywood millionares out donating to the rest of their picket lines, for example.
You can't just look "up" the curve at your salary getting ever higher. You have to look "down" as well, without contempt.
> "anyone is replaceable," is still true
Was it Napoleon who said "the graveyards are full of irreplaceable men"? Also true.
What makes you think you aren't worth much, much more? What would happen to your company if all the tech people went on vacation for a month? CEO's don't think, "We make more than 95% of businesses in our industry, I guess we can relax now." We have to act like the CEO of our careers. Also, most tech workers in the US aren't in the top 5% of earners. Unless you are in a high position at a large company, you're probably top 15-25%. Might wanna check.
>Was it Napoleon who said "the graveyards are full of irreplaceable men"? Also true.
I remember Jobs saying it, but he was known for adopting other people's sayings.
>You can't just look "up" the curve at your salary getting ever higher. You have to look "down" as well, without contempt.
Yes, tech people's elitism isn't a beneficial trait. It's good when selling yourself, but once that's done, we should drop it.
FWIW, a tech union, if done right, would probably be the strongest union in history. Think Dune and Ix.
No, I really did check https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/percentile-points-f... before posting that stat.
(I guess this is where Americans start discovering how badly paid the UK as a whole is)
Holy moly. In the US you have to earn just over $240K USD/yr to break the top 5%. At least you don't go bankrupt when it's time for elder care.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/24/how-much-money-you-have-to-e....
Corps have been pushing down wages for decades. Here's some methods:
The math is: total developer hours needed - total developer hours available = surplus and higher wages. When you automate your daily grind, you get more done. When you get more done, the total developer hours needed is less. Multiply this by around 2 million developers and and pushes down wages. They're boiling frogs here.>So long as tech workers are difficult to replace, they already have considerable power.
You may think that, but the phrase, "no one is irreplaceable," and "the graveyard is full of irreplaceable people," is still true. Go piss off your CEO, call him incompetent or something, and see how replaceable you really are. He will ditch you and make everyone else pick up the load.