Here's a fun fact...

The US Federal Government is now the largest employer of union labor in the nation.

That's right, with the shrinking economy and the millions of people out of work, the union membership in the public sector continues to grow, while union employers in the private sector keep cutting jobs.

This isn't something that can be blamed on the economy exclusively, either. According to a WSJ article union private-sector employers see profits fall far faster than non-union employers. The US auto industry (Ford, Chrysler, GM) has seen 76,000 union jobs lost, while Toyota and Honda have added more than 64,000 NEW non-union jobs just between the two of them.

The article mentioned and linked above gives this fact as evidence that the AFL-CIO is working to change the focus on union interests across the board by championing such policies from the Feds as higher taxes and expanded governmental size and control to ensure dues and revenue increases to the unions. Past focus on such things as workers rights and a share of the profits from the employer is mute in a scenario where the government is the employer... because there is no competition for government employment, is there?

When is the last time that anyone heard of the US Postal Service cutting back staff because the cost of operation demanded it? In the 220 year history of the service, when has the operation of the USPS ever been a "performanced based" system, where the top performers are the top earners? The answer is NEVER. When operational costs go UP, so does the cost of a postage stamp, thus passing the cost of operation away from the USPS (and thus, the Feds) and into the pockets of the consumer. The highest earners in the USPS system are those employees that have been in the system the longest (tenure and seniority) and never on who is the most efficient or proficient at the job.

THAT is the root of the failing of the union system today... in my opinion. Unions today do not have the "worker's" best interest at heart, and are only working to perpetuate their own power and influence.