Our locals BA doesnt do much of a good [bleep] for us, doesnt fight for any work, and basically hands a lot of our work over to other trades. He has his little merry band of bag lickers that he brings along to all expense paid conventions, and gives all the good paying and local jobs to. This doesnt much bother me, I'm in it for the ticket, and the perks along the way. I can/do make a name for myself and dont have to worry about him "getting me work" as I do that myself.
In a few years I'll rethink where I want to be and go from there. Like others have said Unions can be a very good thing if the big shots hearts in it...but most are there for the steady large scale income and treats and could care less about the ones below them.
