I don't know.
Life pretty much sucked and there was no middle class at all before Organized Labor came along in the late 1800's / early 1900's. 12-16 hour workdays 6 days a week and barely enough to feed you and your family in the pay envelope. Read some Upton Sinclair or something from that time period to get the feel for what it was like to live and work before unions.
Not to say that I agree with everything unions have done, but in all, they have contributed much to American society over the last 100 years. 8 hour workdays, 5 day work weeks, middle class incomes. None of us would enjoy these things without the hard won battles of organized labor.
In fact, Reagan's assault on unions beginning with the Air Traffic Controllers affair in 1981 was the start of the decline in middle class incomes and quality of life for all of us.
Not that Reagan acted outside the law, but his actions and his appointments to the NLRB and Federal Judges set a tone and caused corporations across the spectrum to start busting unions and generally attack organized labor across the board, in the media, at the bargaining table, and in Congress.
Contract negotiations take two parties to agree. Most management only thinks about the short term, and thus agree to contracts that hurt the business in the long run.
I can't fault the union for trying to get their members the best deal. That's what they are there for.
But the corruption, etc. - I'm not OK with that. From either side.