The grass is always greener...a two sided coin.
While it is true that corporate megaliths seem to have little concern for the worker-bees in the trenches, the same can be said for the employees as well. The company loyalty of mid-management and below level employees has nearly evaporated and many change jobs with the prevailing winds. Corporations spend millions of dollars on employee satisfaction and retention programs such as on site child care, flex scheduling and lactation space for nursing mothers not to mention all the other benefits so we can't shake our fists at corporate America and deny that the employees have no part in the anti-loyalty trend.
My step-father was a union employee for Western Electric for over 30 years and always was a staunch advocate for organized labor. Despite the union corruption that has been made famous by the movies and TV, many of these hard working people have been well served by their unions through the years. Being a member of a union isn't about gaining an upper hand against management of large corporations, many independent contractors (electricians, plumbers, masons, etc.) are provided access to group healthcare, pension funds, etc. that otherwise would not have been available to them. Sure there might be cheaper non-union labor to get the foundation of your home finished or the cement on the driveway poured and finished, but these people working for less money then are forced to rely on public welfare systems when they are injured on the job (or off the job) because they have no healthcare coverage or disability income insurance, they will depend on Social Security for retirement income which will not be enough to keep them above the poverty line, not to mention healthcare, nursing care if needed, on and on. And guess who ends up paying for that?
