In addition to bargaining power, I think programmers are just worse negotiators. Their educations do not prepare them for this. To hack the system — remember you're putting yourself in a wage-slave situation for years, so best to learn this trash — you should extract the highest price/benefits they're capable of paying you.
(Maybe it helps to read _Getting to Yes_, or something.)
Plus, there's an obvious class component. The further removed you are from working with your hands, the higher value you're perceived to have.
(After all, who hires these project managers and business analysts? Managers. Who naturally value themselves more than underlings, and will transfer that value perception to these managers/analysts. This argument was used in Schmidt's _Disciplined Minds_ to explain some of the higher rank theoretical physicists have over experimental physicists and engineers, even if engineers earn more money.)
(Maybe it helps to read _Getting to Yes_, or something.)
Plus, there's an obvious class component. The further removed you are from working with your hands, the higher value you're perceived to have.
(After all, who hires these project managers and business analysts? Managers. Who naturally value themselves more than underlings, and will transfer that value perception to these managers/analysts. This argument was used in Schmidt's _Disciplined Minds_ to explain some of the higher rank theoretical physicists have over experimental physicists and engineers, even if engineers earn more money.)