They're coming

Originally, this post was about labor unions, strikes, and how petty and foolish I think they both usually are. But, instead of that rant, I'll settle for a simple question:

When will the game industry experience its first strike?

I say "when" and not "if" because I think it's inevitable. While I was reading about this week's Writers Guild of America (film and TV writers) strike, I caught this bit from IGN: "Part of the impetus for the Videogame Writing Award is to draw more game authors into the WGA fold." Yes, they're already recruiting in the game industry. And there's been talk for years now among non-writers in the industry about forming unions.

Are unions and strikes imminent? Or will it be another five, ten, or even fifteen years before enough game developers are unionized to even consider striking? There seems to be less antagonization of workers in the industry now than years ago. Some employers have realized that expected crunch-time is a consequence of poor management, and a growing industry means more jobs available for disillusioned employees. Will that slow unionization much?