I agree with the reasoning why a union was created in the first place. It made sense, it looked out for the common man who worked hard and put pride into his work.
In my experiences in today's society, most, not all, unions have lost touch with their original purpose.
I have my own stories of seeing uinion workers who do half-assed jobs and feel they are entitled to four 15 minute breaks every hour, or get promoted because of seniority as opposed to merit. Which is unfortunate, since I have also seen examples of union workers who do give a damn about their job, work hard at it, and make every effort to make sure it's done right the first time..
I have also been in environments where a union could helpful since some people I knew were terminated for no legitimate and justifiable reason.
Trying to reconcile the differences between these two view points is definitely not an easy process.