The dues came out of my paycheck. Every two weeks, the union took its few dollars for which it promised to fight, fight, fight for my rights as a worker.

I was never too confident in that claim and after witnessing multiple rounds of staff layoffs, pay cuts and two trips by the corporate counsel to bankruptcy court, it was pretty clear the union was powerless to protect much. Worse, it would huff and puff and threaten to blow things down but, really, it was all just theatrics.     

That was 20 or so years ago, and I was glad to get out of the union at my next job. Today's unions enjoy little support, representing just 11.3 percent of the workforce compared to more than 20 percent a few decades ago. The National Labor Relations Board, however, is now apparently on some kind of misguided campaign to resuscitate organized labor.