The electricians unions and the various plumbers and pipefitters unions demand high quality work and have training programs to insure that their members are qualified.

Unions area mixed bag. They represent less than 14% of US employees and half of that number are employed by various federal, state and local governments.

There is no correlation between union membership and work quality or overall productivity. The union members usually get higher salaries, health and dental plans and a pre-paid retirement plan. As we found out a year or so back, the unionized grade school teachers in Wisconsin got an average of $104,000 anual compensation when the national average is half that.