I think a large part of the problem with so many who do not understand the value of unions fall into is an ignorance of history, a lack of knowledge in regards to macro-economics, and the barrage of ignorance coming from especially the right-wing media. Let me briefly cover all three of these, and I hope others will chime in on this.
Unions very much helped to not only create the middle class here in the States and elsewhere, they also gave us so many of the benefits that we take for granted every day. Before unions, the incentive of the owners was to keep wages and benefits low so they could keep their costs down and their own incomes up. Therefore, it was not the "benevolence" of the owners that created the middle class.
To the second item, putting more money in the hands of the common Joe & Mary Citizen is the best way to grow both the economy and also the middle class. When people earn more, they spend more, and growth happens.
With regard to the last item I mentioned in my short list, how many times have we heard those on the right say that we need to give tax breaks to the "job creators", and that they can best grown our economy? That's economic nonsense, and the Pubs and their right-wing media perpetrated that set of lies over and over again dating back to the early 1980's-- and it didn't work. Their insisting that the banking and investment system needed to be less regulated led to the Great Recession, so that also didn't work.
Is it a coincidence that the demise of unions has also helped in the stagnation of middle class wages and more suffering in the lower class? Is the pope Catholic?
Of course there are other factors as well, but I'll stop here.
