This isn't a hypothetical worst-case scenario. I mean, it is a worst-case, but it did actually happen to Hostess.
The union and Hostess had already agreed to a round of salary cuts and decreased benefits. When the management still "couldn't" make it work that they went nuclear.
Arguably, this is a reason unions shouldn't get too big. It creates scenarios where some workers get their interests sacrificed, precisely the thing unions exist to forestall.
Oracle is an awful software company. Does that mean that we should use paper ledgers for corporate accounting?
Which is to say I believe there is a point to be made in there about what can and has happened. And what there is to be cautious of.
Government jobs?
People dont get fired from those anyway.
You have a monopoly service and monopoly workforce. This is recipe for disaster.
At least a monopoly workforce in the private sector can bleed a company dry and force it out of business.
The government? Well they raise taxes + increase debt... Or the service just sucks.
No. That is wrong. All of government is overhead, it's like an operating system that way. Public employees should not be collectively bargain to extract more money from taxpayers. If compensation is so bad in the gov't then the employees can organize to get someone else voted in to turn things around. Furthermore, because so much of what happens in government is subject to public scrutiny (as it should be, it's our money) there's much less space for the government to poorly compensate its employees or treat them like crap.
Edit: did people forget what a great contribution to society police unions have made?
The biggest "upside" is that there is usually more stability in terms of work rules, benefits and compensation, and when there are changes, you know about them. There are defined work rules, disciplinary procedures, etc. Your health insurance doesn't randomly change every year, etc.
The union itself is at least a nominally democratic institution. The downsides are that shitty employees can work the system. And just like how you have bad IT, HR or other teams, some unions suck. Dealing with a shitty union is difficult.
In general, if there are a bunch of people around you doing the same things, the company is making money, and you'd like long tenure, a union probably is a net benefit. If you work for a mega-org or .gov, it's essential. If you're in a high-growth business, or a profession where you expect to bounce from employer to employer, it's not a good value.
Everyone on HN is a 10x employee making a $500k/year, so it's not a good value in that situation either. ;)