If you're timid like me (and a LOT of other programmers!) then yes, quitting and getting another job is how you fix the situation. It's currently the norm in the industry.
I disagree that you've got a 'week bargaining position', though. If they're underpaying you and you ask for a raise, they can stiff you on the raise and hope you don't quit... Or they can give you the raise.
If they don't give you the raise, they know that you know you're being underpaid. At that point, you're virtually guaranteed to start looking at other jobs. You'd be a fool not to at least look.
So even if they're greedy bastards, a little common sense will show them that they need to take care of the problem properly.
Sadly, not all of them have that sense.
But most who quit and get a different job don't ask for a raise. They've already been told flat-out that they aren't getting one, and asking would be silly at that point. That's the position I was in, and it was silly. It didn't do any good except to make me mad enough that I wasn't comfortable in that company any more. (It was a nice, cushy job where I chose what I worked on, so long as it was productive.) See, they had told me that they were capping all raises at 5% because of the economy. The thing is, they had previously shown me how they do better in a bad economy, because they save companies money and new customers come flocking in. I accepted that answer 1 year because the job was really comfy. The second year, I just couldn't accept it. I was too far below what I felt I was worth.
tl;dr - Yes. Quit and find another job if they won't give you the raise you deserve.
I disagree that you've got a 'week bargaining position', though. If they're underpaying you and you ask for a raise, they can stiff you on the raise and hope you don't quit... Or they can give you the raise.
If they don't give you the raise, they know that you know you're being underpaid. At that point, you're virtually guaranteed to start looking at other jobs. You'd be a fool not to at least look.
So even if they're greedy bastards, a little common sense will show them that they need to take care of the problem properly.
Sadly, not all of them have that sense.
But most who quit and get a different job don't ask for a raise. They've already been told flat-out that they aren't getting one, and asking would be silly at that point. That's the position I was in, and it was silly. It didn't do any good except to make me mad enough that I wasn't comfortable in that company any more. (It was a nice, cushy job where I chose what I worked on, so long as it was productive.) See, they had told me that they were capping all raises at 5% because of the economy. The thing is, they had previously shown me how they do better in a bad economy, because they save companies money and new customers come flocking in. I accepted that answer 1 year because the job was really comfy. The second year, I just couldn't accept it. I was too far below what I felt I was worth.
tl;dr - Yes. Quit and find another job if they won't give you the raise you deserve.