Union = more expensive, less productive labor which means two things if you apply it to the IT world:
1) Fewer jobs for IT people locally, and...
2) Even more incentive for companies to outsource to less expensive labor pools elsewhere.
Look what's happening at GM right now as a perfect example. Labor is a commodity and will increase or decrease in value depending on supply and demand like everything else. When you start effectively enforcing price controls on a commodity like labor you either drive companies right out of business by making them unable to compete or force them to employ fewer people and work those people harder than they should which is lose-lose for everyone involved.
Honestly, if you have such a problem with the way things work at your current job why not quit and find something that's a better fit (weren't you trying to start a massage business a while back and refused to accept tips?) or just tell your boss you think the expectations are unreasonable and see where that gets you. Unions are for no-talent assclowns who don't have the chops to compete in the real world. If you are valuable enough in the workplace you don't have to worry about this sort of pager garbage as you can either set your own terms with your employer or offer your services elsewhere and get a compensation plan that better matches your expectations. It's pretty simple actually... I'm actually impressed that you get paid for the pager time at all, most salaried positions in IT that I've seen simply consider it part of the gig.
1) Fewer jobs for IT people locally, and...
2) Even more incentive for companies to outsource to less expensive labor pools elsewhere.
Look what's happening at GM right now as a perfect example. Labor is a commodity and will increase or decrease in value depending on supply and demand like everything else. When you start effectively enforcing price controls on a commodity like labor you either drive companies right out of business by making them unable to compete or force them to employ fewer people and work those people harder than they should which is lose-lose for everyone involved.
Honestly, if you have such a problem with the way things work at your current job why not quit and find something that's a better fit (weren't you trying to start a massage business a while back and refused to accept tips?) or just tell your boss you think the expectations are unreasonable and see where that gets you. Unions are for no-talent assclowns who don't have the chops to compete in the real world. If you are valuable enough in the workplace you don't have to worry about this sort of pager garbage as you can either set your own terms with your employer or offer your services elsewhere and get a compensation plan that better matches your expectations. It's pretty simple actually... I'm actually impressed that you get paid for the pager time at all, most salaried positions in IT that I've seen simply consider it part of the gig.