Alarming increase in outsourcing of technology jobs is not new, but Dan Gillmor's Outsourcing Our Future article is a sign of recent increase in alarm bells.  Just in time too because outsourcing trend is accelerating.  The real fun will begin when Presidential hopefuls start peddling this issue.

One solution I thought might work is encouraging unionization of IT workers in both India and US.  Unionizing IT workers in India will increase labor cost there.  Unionizing IT workers in America will discourage outsourcing here.

Unionization is a powerful force.  Just look at how unions are destroying manufacturing industry in Korea.  Did you know it cost 25% less for Hyundai to manufacture cars in Alabama than in Korea?  Oops.  That was the before the most recent labor deal Hyundai was forced to sign under which Hyundai auto workers gets 150+ days off per year (women get 170+ days off).

I am not talking about yesterday's unions.  These days, unions are highly organized both internally and externally.  In the near future, unions armed with cellphones, e-mail, IM, and socialwares, even small unions will weave themselves into larger networks of allied unions spanning nations and even continents.  Massive long term conflicts between global union networks is not unimaginable either.

Expect to be held hostage by unionized IT workers of tommorrow