ML Engineers: The Strategic Proletariat of Our Era
ML engineers are absolutely proletarian in the Marxist sense - they sell labor power, don't own means of production, and create surplus value captured by capital. Their high wages obscure but don't change this fundamental relation. They're workers with golden chains, but still workers.
The strategic importance makes this fascinating. Unlike most PMC positions, ML engineers directly create the means of production for 21st century capitalism. They build the automation that will reshape all labor. They're like early industrial engineers who designed factories - workers whose work transforms work itself.
Their contradictions run deep. Massive salaries create bourgeois lifestyle but not bourgeois power. Stock options provide illusory ownership while real control remains with capital. They build systems that will eventually automate their own jobs. They're simultaneously labor aristocracy and future precariat.
The organizing challenges are real but not insurmountable. The "sensitive nature" includes:
NDAs and trade secrets limiting discussion
Immigration status vulnerabilities (many on H1-B)
Geographic dispersion across companies
Ideological buy-in to meritocracy
Fear of killing the golden goose
But precedents exist. Google workers organized against Project Maven. Tech Workers Coalition builds solidarity across roles. Kickstarter engineers unionized. The key is finding issues that unite immediate interests with broader politics - opposing military contracts, demanding ethical AI, protecting against layoffs.
Stealth organizing could leverage:
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