Imo, theres pros and cons. In my neck of the woods, union workers do far better than "decent working conditions and living wages" and its a much sought after position. Iirc, they only test twice a year, and theres hundreds more applicants than there are positions available. You can literally be on a wait list for months / years. Thats why its not "what you know" its "who you know" but I digress. Ive watched my friends go from ~$17-19/hour starting to ~$35-38/hour in 5 years (journeyman-->apprentice so just imagine the jump from apprentice-->whatever its called) and of course they have great insurance and retirement packages. All good for them and union workers in general but those costs are passed on to the customers.