unions

Further evidence that the union vs. corporation rhetoric is often misguided. Three airline unions are looking for American Airlines and US Airways to merge and are pushing to make it happen. source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/20/us-american-unions-idUSBRE83J0WG20120420

Trade Unions are powerful, if the employment level in the economy is high. But in countries where there is high unemployment, owners can simply fire the workers for standing up against them, and hire some other unemployed people to work at low wages!

Since some discussions in the economics forum recently started moving towards unionism discussions, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread on it to see the different opinions everyone has on the matter. So do you think unions are effective? Necessary? Also, how do you see them in...

Are the above mentioned issues really something that states should be deciding individually? Or are they a matter of rights that should be addressed by the government? IMO, it's an issue of rights and needs a governmental rule. Marriage can't be accepted in one state and not in another...