Actually, JimJoe, Federal Government employees do have the right to belong to a union. There are several major unions such as American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE). Government unions do not have the right to strike. They represent employees in disputes about job conditions, job performance ratings, and disciplinary procedures.

Employees are not required to belong to a union; it is entirely voluntary - and a non-union employee gets the same benefits as a union employee - and can even be represented by a union official at a hearing.

Labor Relations is a major part of the Federal Human Resources office in any government agency.

I am not saying they are not needed but as a former HR Officer, the union officials did block a lot of the programs that were for the good of the government. You probably will not find one HR employee who says they liked working with the unions.