I don't always agree with Broker, but I have to LOL as well. Unions were once very much a necessity when this country was rotting and companies were really taking advantage of workers, prior to WWII and after. Not that companies still don't take advantage of workers, but they're no longer denied the rights they deserve for the most part. Wages are fairly competitive in most industries too. Today unions are a mostly antiquated concept and it's been that way for some time. They've outlived their usefulness in most sectors, and it's easy to see why their popularity and membership continues to dwindle over time. They were instrumental at one time in raising working conditions, but the 40s were a long time ago. Now when I see a union led strike, the workers seem to end up getting replaced more times than not and their demands still aren't met. I've seen it happen nationally, and locally at the steel plants here. I'm sure those workers that lost their livelihood and their careers feel differently about unions today.
Look at the Hostess bankruptcy a few years ago. By all accounts, the company was not doing well financially anyway, they were looking to file Chapter 11 to get out of some bad dept. If I recall, they were looking to drop pensions going forward for new employees, something that many companies started doing years and years ago. The baker's union called their bluff and went full strike. What resulted was the complete shut down of Hostess and moving to Chapter 7 liquidation, everyone got the axe. Now, one of the unions affiliated with Hostess did restructure contracts (A big problem that contributed to the Hostess debt), but the baker's union cost everyone their jobs ultimately.
Obviously that's just one example, I've seen plenty of union trouble locally. It goes beyond strikes though. I remember the very first job I applied for was at a super market. They told me what I would have to pay as union dues up front, and how much out of every check goes to the union. Obviously as a 17 year old at the time I thought "I'm just a stock boy at a grocery working part time, is this really necessary?" I ended up not even starting there, I went to the retail chain next door for more money and no union fees. Of course things would be different maybe if I planned a career in management at either place, maybe the union job pays more long term. Other than a few dangerous fields (I know about half of all miners are still unionized) I would wager that most workers today question why they have to divy up some of their check to a union these days.
Ultimately, I think unions should have mostly gone the way of the dodo by now. They seem as effective as my HOA...they collect dues and don't do much of anything to earn that cash.