I've not seen programmers hired like carpenters, but I worked briefly at a place where programmers were represented by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.
That was Hughes Aircraft. That weird union representation came about because Hughes unionized during the construction of the Spruce Goose [1], which involved a massive amount of carpentry, so it made sense for the carpenters union to be the union that represented Hughes employees. That representation stuck long after actual carpenters became rare at Hughes.
That was Hughes Aircraft. That weird union representation came about because Hughes unionized during the construction of the Spruce Goose [1], which involved a massive amount of carpentry, so it made sense for the carpenters union to be the union that represented Hughes employees. That representation stuck long after actual carpenters became rare at Hughes.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules