My thoughts on unions:

I understand why unions were necessary in the years following the Industrial Revolution, but in today's society, I question the place that unions have.

I worked in union job on a railroad. Realistically, the pay was almost too high for the job I did and the benefits and guarantees were second to none. It was a great job, and even though the work could become a bit menial at times, it would make for a well-paying career. (The only reason I left that job is that it interfered with my ability to finish college.)

Without the protection and negotiating power of the union, though, I'm not sure that wages and benefits would drop substantially. They were motivated to try to keep their employees, since in that area there were a lot of other blue-collar jobs that paid just as well (maybe better), and they didn't want to constantly have to fight to hire good workers. (It was tough for the railroad to find new employees, since, like pilots, the schedules are so irregular and not conducive to family life.)

Unfortunately, unions create an us-versus-them culture, even on my railroad, where management had a vested interest in not losing employees. That creates a dependency on the union to protect them from the "evil" management, and the vicious cycle only gets stronger. Without a union, employees still hold the power of choice: they are free to leave a poorly-run company for a better-run company or do something like attend community college to learn skills to find a better job. The place I'm employed at now pays pretty well even without a union, as after many years of high turnover, they finally learned the value of keeping happy employees rather than having to train new ones every few months.

Unfortunately, I think airline employees have traded away the employees' traditional chief bargaining pawn by painting themselves in the corner with the seniority system, which limits their ability to move around and find other jobs. Under the seniority system, unions become necessary to protect the employees, since the employees hold no threats against the employer unless they're banded together.

The only problem with this train of thought, though, is that it seems to have been agreed here that the seniority system is the best way to run a large airline. So unless someone can come up with an effective alternate system that also allows employees to leave without giving up the entire life they've earned themselves, I think the situation isn't likely to get any better, unfortunately.