I have been around long enough to watch over and over. There are times a Union is extremely beneficial. Believe it or not, owners/upper mgmt can get a little greedy. But when they are around too long, they almost always go too far. They always require a little more, rarely will settle for less. Eventually you have to give or it will take the company that is feeding you down. If labor costs, benefits, and retirement packages are so high, it makes it so they can't compete in the market. Or if the market demand drops, they have to take less until the company finds a new product to compete with. This is a perfect example.