>I’d much rather deal with management alone than union leadership.

You only say that b/c you've been really lucky/unlucky so far. Either you don't know what dealing with hostile management is like or you've had really shitty unions. Either way most employees benefit greatly from having representation in the workplace rather than having to deal with a dictator alone.

Well to be 100% honest you’re right on both counts. Most things in life lie on a spectrum and most instances lie somewhere close to the middle of that spectrum. My comment lands on an extreme anti-union end. I personally do not want to be a union member but I do admit that, on average, a worker benefits from union membership.