What do you guys think of software engineers forming a union where we have a guaranteed base pay but each of us can still negotiate higher if we wanted?
If you don't like your job then switch it, there's plenty of software companies that don't do that. Generally I've seen that the more bleeding edge you're working on then the more overwork you get. If you want to sacrifice working on the bleeding edge for a steady pay and steady working hours you can have that all across the country.
