This man’s childhood reads like my own. Grew up in a union household. My father was the union shop rep. My grandfathers and great grandfathers all worked in the Steel Mills, all in the union. My Great Grandfather was a union leader (union secretary) at the turn of the century. Back when it was real dangerous. Of course I grew up, union good, management evil. As an adult, the scales slowly fell from my eyes...
My father was in the union too in the construction industry and it got him jobs when projects came to a close so he always supported it. He even paid dues when he didn’t have to anymore. During the 70s, he became more and more conservative but still held unions in high regard. It blinded him to the fact that union inflexibility caused massive layoffs and plant shutdowns in our area. Some fathers were unemployed for several years but still supported the union position. Finally the jobs went away.
I started out with a favorable view of unions as a kid but slowly saw how they destroyed jobs. Even with that, I still thought they could be good if they were reformed and became more flexible. Then I saw how, in the late 80s and 90s, they truly became part of the Dem machine. They supported anti-war demonstrations and gay marriage. That’s when I finally wrote them off.