A recent blog post on the ycombinator website revolved around how nearly half of game developers would love to join a union. Because so many developers want to write games, compared to other technical areas, the pay is low and the hours are long. Because of the love of games, the developers are often times exploited, while the big game companies are making record profits.
news.ycombinator.com/...
One comment thread discussed why it is hard to start a union, the usual, no one wants to join unless there is critical mass. No one wants anyone to know they want to join because they dont want to be fired. Anyone that would try to start the process would get fired etc.
One commenter suggested a kickstarter for unions. People pay their dues in advance, but the money is refunded if the minimum number of people don’t sign up. The system would keep anonymity and even the organizers could remain anonymous.
As a conservative I think unions have often times ended up being corrupt, however I recognize that it doesn’t mean the basic philosophy of balancing management and labor power isn’t a useful one.
If anyone is passionate about this, join the conversation at ycombinator.com and get a technical partner from the ycombinator forums to help out.