That's an extremely naive view of the people a union is intended to protect. Even a minimal amount of research, or even some simple pondering of the situations your fellow employees might find themselves in that benefit from a stronger work contract would lead to many other cases where a union has benefit.
That's not to say a union is right for every company or job, but to think it only benefits those you outlined is just plain silly when any thought it put into it. If you really need some help in figuring out a beneficial case, consider what purpose insurance often serves, and also consider power imbalances when you have a bunch of individuals against one large unified opponent (when any negotiation can be considered adversarial under these conditions).
Not the op, but that isn't naive. Did a short stint in a union shop. The day had more breaks than it did work in it. Me and the other new guy started cranking on our task list, and were told by our manager to "slow down or you'll work yourself out of a job."
It's not naive to think that may be the case for some or that it happens. It's very naive to think that's the only reason for or result of unionizing, and it was presented as the only ting that matters enough to be mentioned.
That's an extremely naive view of the people a union is intended to protect. Even a minimal amount of research, or even some simple pondering of the situations your fellow employees might find themselves in that benefit from a stronger work contract would lead to many other cases where a union has benefit.
That's not to say a union is right for every company or job, but to think it only benefits those you outlined is just plain silly when any thought it put into it. If you really need some help in figuring out a beneficial case, consider what purpose insurance often serves, and also consider power imbalances when you have a bunch of individuals against one large unified opponent (when any negotiation can be considered adversarial under these conditions).