unions

It's not really a horror story, just two similar roles reaching the same end, just one had a lot more stress due to the union. It was probably more impactful for the blue collars in the union, but both my dad and uncle were white collar, so it was more a disruption than actually helpful.

Sometimes a union is absolutely essential, and sometimes it needs to justify itself and ends up screwing you over. If you get a union, make sure it's a good one that won't strike unless there's a good reason to (and no, increasing dues isn't a good reason).