being able to fight for better wages and working standards seems to be important.....and more than nothing. 
You give the institutions I dealt with far too much credit. Sure you got "benefits", but they were meager and, particularly at Berkeley, usually inferior to what non-union employees at the same level got. I know several people who have been jockeying to be reclassified into non-union positions for years, because they are tired of getting robbed by the union for nothing in return.
Accurate. I understand unions need to have collective bargaining to strengthen their bargaining hand but I think that people should be allowed to opt out both in union dues and benefits. As a conservative, I don't want to subsidize the political activities of unions.
