A colleague at another workstation has a sign posted that reads, "(X Airline) employees value Unions" or something like that. I'm always tempted to write in, "X Airline employees with seniority value Unions." Many employees are new hires. Unions do great at protecting the established. All benefits are determined by 2 factors, in my case- date of hire and letter of the alphabet your last name starts with. All the new hires (less than 2 years employed) get scraps in regard to vacation days, time off, shift bids, etc. Why would they be union? Union rules of seniority only prevent them from enjoying privileges.

Many will say, "When they have worked here 20 years they will appreciate it and think differently." Some comments here.
> That's presumptive. Why should they have that (poor) attitude in the future? Don't we all work the same job? In fact, many new hires are better trained and have more responsibility for less pay than those with seniority. Is that an inherent attitude we foster as unions, namely, that we should aim for a sense of entitledment at the expense of/standing on the shoulders of new hires below us? Have we forgotten what it was like when we were new hires? I'd like to think that I see us all as a unified team. No one would recommend totally levelling the playing field, obviously. But how about spreading the wealth a little? The concept of "when the have worked here 20 years" is hardly encouraging in this industry of unknowns. Great respect is due to those who survived paycuts, mergers, bankruptcies, etc. They've earned it. But telling a new hire to wait 20 years in order to get any privileges won't cause much excitement.

Interestingly, where I'm at management has a plethora and wide variety of bonuses, rewards, perks, etc., many of them cash (!). The benefits are in most cases based on performance- goals met, attendance, evaluation scores, etc. It doesn't matter whether you've worked 40 years or 4 months, personal effort and aptitude determines your rewards. Is there a way Unions can encourage all the new hires by including other factors than solely date of hire? If they did, they'd get their vote.