I'm surprised that I beat brother Mick to this post. I am a Union staff worker... and a big union boss, only in the sense that I'm 6'5" and weigh in at_____. I am employed by a very progressive, and aggressive international union. I have witnessed every misuse of honest hard working people that you could ever imagine.

I have seen people unfit to return to work because of injury and illness, on the job or off, threatened, to return or else...often against doctors orders.

I have seen a litany of contract violations from employers that know that their pockets are deep enough to endure the cost of ongoing arbitration costs.

We all have witnessed the continuing shift of wealth, from the working "middle" class to the inordinately rich and powerfull upper 1% of the US population.

It is a fact that the wage value of the average CEO of a US company, has climbed from 30 times in 1973, to 475 times the wage rate of the average worker...

there is NO other organization responsible for the american dream as we have known it, only the U S Union Movement, and the dream may be dying... or being murdered.

I work very hard to organize new members, educate and mobilize current members and protect the health and retirement packages of our retirees.

All workers deserve a wage that allows a regularly improving standard of living, health care benefits, pensions that afford comfort and dignity, in retirement...

Much of this is eroding, because Unions represent a small enough segment of the work force, (11%), that there is not enough collective strength to guarantee the continuation of these benefits.

So, yes we do need Unions, and we also need to change the culture of unions and members, who must think of our unions as a movement, not as an insurance company, to whom you pay your premium and collect your benefit.