I keep seeing posts about how Unions are “unnecessary” and it got me thinking of other things at jobs that are actually unnecessary, things like company baseball teams. How would management handle it if a bunch of employees wanted to start a baseball team? Would they care? No. They'd probably support it, as long as they don't have to pay for anything or be held liable when Hank from Accounting smashes Liz from IT with a curve ball. They wouldn't force new employees to watch videos about how baseball teams are damaging to morale and pay. They wouldn't shut down branches which have joined the local sports league. They might even encourage participation under the guise of “company culture”. But of course company baseball teams don't force management to address worker grievances or increase pay (they are after all, voluntary teams).