The unions initiated it long before Jimmy was greasing the slide down.
Oh hell yes. The slide started in the late 60s early 70s when the steel workers got a paid 13 week vacation every 4 years {in addition to their regular 2-4 weeks standard annual vacation}.
I was in college in the mid 60s and worked as a Steel Union worker and was paid triple time for working on a Thanksgiving Day {and I was sent by the labor gang leader, to sleep for 8 hours in an overhead crane that was shut down for repairs}.
Unions are a major reason that the US economy has been quick to tank and slow to recover.
Gummint unions should be illegal. Period.