Unions are an archaic idea. As was said they had their place back in the days but even then it was nothing more than legal racketeering and blackmail.

You pay the union so your guys don't go on strike, the union talks to the employer so it stops "open door policies", union laborers make more and do less (not all but many) because of protection by their union, employees who choose not to join the union because of the cost or not seeing the benefit are forced off the job (happened to me).

It is outdated and overinflated for what you get back out of it. If people were smart they would see that and instead of depending on some overpaid schmuck who worked in the field 50 years ago they would get off their asses and do some research and talk to employees at their particular location then bring a list of demands from the actual workers themselves.

Cut out the middleman who just inflates the cost of production.

 

With any big project, there are always going to be unexpected costs and time overages. That has always been a part of architects/engineers getting bids from contractors. The contractor[s] who say they can do it quickest and cheapest get the job, knowing that they would be penalized for not making deadlines or spending too much money. The typical contractor figures that it would be better to get a nice chunk of that $14 BILLION and get some penalties than not get a piece of that at all. It's not the union that promises to get the job done quicker and cheaper than possible, it's the guys running the construction company. BTW, I know this because I used to work for a architect firm as a drafter/ errand boy.