It is of course important to note that my experience with unions is by no mean exhaustive, I can only describe what I experienced at one particular employer, th

It is of course important to note that my experience with unions is by no mean exhaustive, I can only describe what I experienced at one particular employer, this very well might not be an issue elsewhere. On the other hand, it's my understanding that historically, in the US at least, unions were somewhat frequently used as a way to keep minorities out of certain professions. I would also caution against assuming that because unions, and their members, might share similar views with traditionally left wing political parties in regards to employment policies, that these views extend to being left wing or "progressive" on non-work related issues. I would probably describe myself as being well to the left of mainstream US politics when it comes to most social issues, and probably fairly to the left on economic issues, and I did not get the sense that most union coworkers shared these sentiments in the least.