I think that that sort of fixing is possible because a programmers value is based on the scale they work at. If you fix a bug that effects 1 million people per year and leads to 10 cents more per transaction, you have earned the company 100k per year. If your company only has 10k customers, then the same bug in the same time is only 1k per year. So you are worth different amounts to different businesses. As there are only so many very high scale businesses, they can collude.
Similar things might apply to lawyers, getting an X% better deal? I wonder at the social factors involved though.
There was some furore a while back about wage fixing between the big tech companies. Whether it has been fixed or not is another matter.
I think that that sort of fixing is possible because a programmers value is based on the scale they work at. If you fix a bug that effects 1 million people per year and leads to 10 cents more per transaction, you have earned the company 100k per year. If your company only has 10k customers, then the same bug in the same time is only 1k per year. So you are worth different amounts to different businesses. As there are only so many very high scale businesses, they can collude.
Similar things might apply to lawyers, getting an X% better deal? I wonder at the social factors involved though.