I worked union for the entire 44 years and 7 months of my construction career. I started at 17 years old right out of high school. I always looked out for the welfare of the companies I worked for. I learned and craved to know all I could about the project and industry. The slugs did not last no more than they last in any other work environment. I can't speak for other industries, but there is no seniority in construction. Work, and do it right with efficiency, or or go home. It is that simple. Contrary to common thinking, union wage does not guarantee that all workers gets paid the same. It only sets the minimum level which is what most journeymen get. I managed large projects, negotiated my pay, and subsistence when it was warranted, at well over scale the last 18 years of my career. My pension and benefits have so far been secure. I busted my butt and my employer made dang good money off of me. I have always felt it would be damn hard to get a raise out of someone that was struggling just to stay in business. Its a lot easier to negotiate with a company if they are making a respectable and fair profit. I have 9 years of over 3,000 hours a year in the least 30 years of my pension. My non-union salaried counterparts did not get paid overtime, or often no extra at all when the project required lots of hours, I as a union employee did. Early on in my career I worked for a couple of contractors on projects that I was not happy at. I simply moved on and the nice thing was that my pension and healthcare was still intact and not lost, froze, or stolen. One of the best things about the unions was the fact that one could leave a unhappy place with out starting over. I will admit that for much of my career I was in a field where "learned" supervisors are very much in short supply, but not any more so than "learned" mechanics. Other companies often made offers, but I worked for only two employers in the last 30 years. I believe in taking care of each other. The one move I did made was only to get my base of operations back home to the north country. I never left the first company until the project I was building was complete. Your results may vary, but whatever one does in life, it takes dedication and hard work from both parties to be successful.
Sorry folks, Got a bit long.