jw, against my better judgement(or lack of) I have one more parting thought. Why are you so defensive? In trying to remain objective, I deliberately left out the dark side of the BS which I have personally endured at the hands of the union. I started my career at 16, unwittingly being hired 2 weeks prior to a strike which lasted 2 years and resulted in the union being voted out. Many of the strikers were friends of mine and we hung out together on a regular basis. They made me aware of the tactics which they were encouraged to use during the strike (follow deliveries and harass customers, shoot out windows in the facilities, slash our truck tires, to mention a few). I could count on picking roofing nails up out of our parking lots and premises at least once a week. Our phone lines were cut repeatedly. I was personally abused and called a scab when I didn't even know what it was. There was a pack mentality among SOME of the strikers which manifested itself as a big mouth and tough SOB's in a group, but alone they were mealy mouth CS's. Many of these guys were worthless POS's and would have never held a job but for the union. Now I have to concede, for lack of experience, that this may be an isolated occurrence, but it gave me a poor taste for the union from the get go. As I said, it lasted 2 years and cost a lot of workers a lot of money, and many their jobs. The company did fine without them. Who the hell was benefitted by the union in that case? None of their members, near as I could tell. A lot of them got hurt, but the union rep's got to go home to dinner every night and slept well, knowing that their future was secure. Once again, they were the only winners.

All I can address first hand is this particular union, but in my experience, they encourage, even reward, mediocracy.
It bothers me, as a man, when anyone, particularly a guy with a family, doesn't strive for the highest achievement available to him. This doesn't necessarily mean $$, but a level of satisfaction as well. Some of the guys I mentioned earlier were too worried about what would happen if they weren't union, and not concerned enough about what could be if they weren't hiding behind the organized muscle and bully tactics of their representation.

If you feel the need to attack me personally again, have at it; I've got big shoulders, and you wouldn't be the first. I do speak from first hand experience, and I actually somehow managed to achieve a decent position, which I enjoy thoroughly, and decent income, without union representation.
I have never been out of work unless it was my own decision. Hopefully you can agree to disagree with me and we can move on.