I'll say this.
I am glad that I'm not a union member:
I was listening to one of the talk shows the other night I believe it was Mark Liven who stated the job numbers could not possibly add up... He went on to explain how he came to the conclusion.... As far as union membership goes not all unions are the same... Some companies are very abusive and the union actually helps mediate day to day problems... The problem comes in when the bargaining units get so large they become able to shut a company down... As far as telling membership how to vote goes they actually do to some extent... They use to ply the membership with mailings and send out tapes directing reps to speak to the membership about voting the Democrat party line.... I have heard some old stories from municipal union workers where the pressure was more present... In jobs like that who wins an election could make a big difference in the job situation so I could see the union being more aggressive about election results... Unions have to be careful today because a lot of people really resent having to pay union dues each month and would like nothing better than to expose the union in some illegal activity like vote steering.... They like getting all the benefits union membership has in place but don't feel they should be forced to join.