I know; I served as a union rep for over ten years on the railroad. Unfortunatelly there are no perfect organisations and there will always be those who game the system and abuse the rules. Remmember that goes for those in management also. But let me say this. The great majority of union workers want to do the job and give a good days work for their pay. Do we have ocassionally to carry someone who is less than stellar in performance? Yep; a small percentage just like the deadwood brother-in -law and friends of the boss that we as workers must support in their incompetence in the upper echelon. For every union worker who is off base we had to carry one manager promoted for reasons other than competence. This is an old argument and studying the situation tells another story. Look to those unions that have remained strong and vital; high steel workers/fireman/local 3 electrical workers...the list grows. Talk to those guys then tell me they are not committed to hard work and pride of accomplishment. Empowering workers with control over their duties and rewards and providing a safe working environment always results in positive outcomes; without fail.