Yes, Detroit has shown us how unionism can be a great boost for the middle class . . . into the lower class.
California is highly unionized and they are broke.
I was in a union many years ago. we were picketing a company that kicked out the union. The company wasn't very big, and wasn't very profitable. A new owner had taken it over in the hope of turning the company around. It was they who kicked out the union. I asked my union president why we (the union) didn't buy the company ourselves. The union could certainly afford to purchase the company; then we could give the employees any wage we wished and any profits could go to the union in general for the benefit of all the union members. He agreed the union could buy the company, but that's "not what we do". But would we not benefit to a greater extent if we "owned" the means of production? That involved to much risk he said. Besides we weren't managers, And what he said next made me shutter. "If we took over we might have to reduce wages in order to keep the company going. That wouldn't be good for the union. We should be about wages not profits. Let the other guy do that." But if the company goes under our members will be unemployed. "One company going under, especially this size doesn't matter. It is the priciple of unionization that's important. If a company exists it must be unionized!"

Wow. I've always been for labor organizing. But the union bosses are no better than these CEO's. They exist off the workers. How much of a UAW workers pay goes to the union bosses? The millions the unions give politicians, that money could go to help union memebers directly. The nexus of Big Labor and Big Government isn't any better than Big Business and Big Government. The worker loses in the end.
As for your good wages I'm happy for you. But the administration is now asking average people to pony up so that union labor can continue to benefit. They have sucked up the life of GM and now they want the US people to fill in the gap.
The unions have become a racket. It's tragic. Take teachers unions. They exist for the benefit of teachers not students. Our high school kids rank 23rd out of all countries. When in 1st grade they rank 3rd among nations. The longer they stay in school the dumber they get. I've come to believe most union members produce a product no better.
It is a travesty of justice.
May God help us all.