I'm not a fan of unions, in general. I've been a member of three of them, my spouse has been a union guy. At the phone company we had our own union - not a local of some conglomerate like the Teamsters, but our own private employees' union. And then the conglomerate took over and our benefits went down the tube - while the local officers raked in their extra pay and the stewards got a day off every week with pay to attend union meetings that existed to deny employees of the few rights they managed to save.
At the municipality, I was hired as a civil servant, having passed the test and been 10th on the list of a couple hundred candidates. Turned out they only hired me because the chick they had to fire, refused to work full time and the union demanded that it be a full time position. I didn't know that when they hired me. Five months and 3 weeks in - the week before the end of the mandatory probation period - they fired me for "no cause." They were able to get the union to create a part-time position doing what they originally insisted had to be a full time job, and they hired the other chick back. I had to threaten them with an attorney (which was a bluff since I couldn't afford one to literally fight city hall), just to get my union dues back. They refused to protect my position, refused to represent me, and refused to refund the money I paid every paycheck to pay for that protection and representation.
The last one was at a supermarket. They required that we pay extra in dues, to cover medical benefits. The benefits were an old fashioned 80/20 plan where you have to submit your expenses after paying the bill, and they refund you. I already had full coverage of comprehensive health care from my husband's employment, so I tried to opt out, to save some money. They told me that wasn't allowed, I was enrolled and paying for it whether I wanted it or not. Then they gave me a copy of the union contract - which was a 20 page xerox copy of someone's hand-typed document, that was full of typos and missing sentences and even an entire page missing. One of the things the union negotiated for was a first aid kit on every floor of the store. They actually gave something up in exchange for something OSHA requires anyway.
I walked out of that place after trying for a month. I wasn't allowed to NOT be in the union - even though our state forbade mandatory union membership at employment. I would've had to hire a labor lawyer - and again - I couldn't afford it.
That said - my personal experience aside, I am not anti-union. I'm anti abuse by unions. I believe strongly that unions are necessary to create a healthy, safe, and strong work environment. But once they've done that they need to back up and let the system work. When they keep pushing for more and making ridiculous demands of employers just to prove that they're the muscle in the relationship, that's when the unions fail their members.
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