union primer

It seems to me it is time to re-educate the population about just what a union is.
The right to work crowd has done a good job of promoting their version of 'freedom', but if anyone examines it closely, it just doesn't work. Here are a few facts that explain why.
Fact 1. The workplace is an inherently unbalanced power situation. The boss has much more power than the worker by virtue of the power to fire.
Fact 2. The only way the worker can try to even up that balance is to combine with other workers and gain the threat of strikes, slowdowns, etc. These combinations of workers are called unions.
Fact 3. The only way unions have power is through at least majority, if not overwhelming, membership. A walkout by 5% of the work force is not likely to have much impact. 50 or 60% on the other hand ...
Fact 4. Management has and has used many tactics to prevent the unions from gaining strong membership. Campaigns of falsehoods, veiled threats, mandatory 'education' meetings, etc. are rampant. Most of the time we don't hear about them, but this last election brought some of that to light.
This brings us to our present situation. Closed shops may seem unfair, but in the real world, they are necessary to give the union some hope of competing with the dominant power of the employer. I heard one pundit comment on unions proving themselves effective and then gaining membership. Sounds reasonable until you realize unions can't be effective until they have membership. Early members have to join now, get the benefits later, after the membership has grown enough to force the employer to deal. Just a sad fact of the real world.
These are the facts. Maybe now you know why union members are so upset at gaining the 'freedom' of right to work (for less).