> This is how basically every union workplace in the US works. The pay-scale becomes very rigid.

How do you address, other than dismissal, the existence of the SAG and other unions for industries with vastly varying pay levels?

Surely a next-gen labor union based in the tech industry could find a new way to fight ageism without mandating a seniority system. Why does tech have to act the same way as before? I thought we were supposed to be innovators?

> This is how basically every union workplace in the US works.

Well, in that the vast majority of union jobs are either public sector blue-collar, or both, sure.

Non-blue-collar, private-sector union jobs don't work that way, though they often have firm minimums (like SAG-AFTRA “scale” pay.)