I don't think you know what you're talking about, or you are omitting western Europe. In Germany/Austria most workers are on collective bargaining agreements (different and specific for each industry, incl IT) which is regulated by unions plus org-specific councils (Betriebsräte in AT/DE, similar in other countries). Similar for Switzerland, also Collective labour agreements in Netherlands. Seems to be similar in Spain and France but these I didn't have experience with. So yeah, your comment is at least misleading or ignorant and bullshit at most
Isn't it a regular complaint that American tech workers don't get the kinds of benefits they would in Europe, especially healthcare? Even someone with a very nice American salary can be bankrupted by medical expenses very easily in America. When Americans do end up bankrupt it's usually medical debt that is to blame.
It seems like there should be room for a happy medium somewhere where some workers in the US maybe don't get the same salaries but are also not having to spend so much on healthcare, get more time with their families, get better just protections, etc. Once you make enough money that you're not really worried about meeting your bills and can pretty much buy what you want the peace of mind is more important than the bragging rights you get over who has a bigger paycheck.
No that’s not a regular complaint from tech workers. Every partially subsidized employer paid insurance has out of pocket max that is usually around $16K a year for a family if you choose a high deductible plan at the worse.
But the answer is that your insurance shouldn’t be tied to your employer in the US. You don’t need unions for that.
No, I don't see those complaints anywhere. US workers are paid so much more that the lower salary + higher taxes are not worth it. Especially due to the fact that many of the high paying SWE jobs include very good health insurance.
