First, if you can unionize or join a union, you should. Unions fight hard for their members. Unions are very effective at improving working conditions for their members.
With that said, labor unions are not immune to treating their employees bad. I spent the last three years as a union representative in the midwest. It is one of the largest labor unions in the country/world. I spent the majority of my time in grocery stores. I'm not going to say anymore because I have a sister that also works there. I have since moved on to a new employer that treats their employees significantly better.
When I was hired, I was told this was a life-style job. They prefer people with either no family or a very small family. I didn't really understand what that meant until training started. I was fresh out of college and needed a professional job.
We were expected to work anywhere from 50-70 hours a week. Every quarter, we also had mandatory weekends where we were expected to work 15 hours on Saturday and 15 hours on Sunday. No extra pay (salary job). This was after the 50-70 hours during the week.
We were expected to work all three shifts and two weekends a month. I had no personal life. I rarely saw my BF or my friends.
When I was pregant I applied for 12 weeks of maternity leave but was denied. They wanted me back in 6-weeks. I had to fight hard to get the 12-weeks and then they put a massive guilt trip on me saying this will only hurt other reps who have to cover my stores. They do the same when you call in sick. The demand to know when you plan on making up those hours.
The union takes out union dues every paycheck, yet we have no collective bargaining agreement. So I'm not paying for anything. When I questioned this, they told me it's only fair that we pay dues if we expect members to pay dues. When I pointed out that members have a CBA, they basically shushed me.
Not too long ago, union representatives actually tried to unionize, but those reps were forced out of their job.
The turnover rate was huge. We would just burn through new hires.
Once I gained enough experience, I found a different job. I've been in my new job for about 6-months and it's amazing how much personal time I have. I'm not tired all the time. My mental health is so much better.
I always thought labor unions would be a leader employee relations. But they are really no different than any other corporation. We need to hold labor unions to a higher standard, otherwise they are just hypocrites. It was such a dissappointing experience. I LOVED helping members, but the union broke me. I had to get out.