>...so there's less benefit to being a veteran worker than there would be as a "knowledge worker?" There can still be benefits for the company to having an exp

>...so there's less benefit to being a veteran worker than there would be as a "knowledge worker?" There can still be benefits for the company to having an experienced workforce - and it comes down to the company and union culture. I've worked in union shops as in industrial engineer. Your experienced press operator can help troubleshoot problems better and faster than a newbie, and they can tell you all the ways a plan you have is wrong before you implement it. Whether they do or not varies. Some individuals have an attitude of "I do what I'm told and go home at the end of the day", some are more than willing to help and collaborate, some hate their job but are holding out for a pension, some literally work harder at not working than if they just did their job. I had many internships before starting full time. Some places you'd never guess were union - mostly in a good way. Factory #1 I could go out on the line and talk with anyone, and largely everyone was helpful in trying to make the work more efficient, improve the bad parts of their jobs, etc. It felt wrong, but my first day on the job I went to the R&D manufacturing area with my coworkers, they made small talk with the union machinist, then started machining some parts. I was taken aback, and they then explained the union only really cares about normal production. Also factory #1, as I was making standard work, one worker was 10' and up a ladder from his toolbox when he realized he had the wrong size socket. He'd messed up a few other times for the same kind of thing and was tired of going up and down. He asked me to hand him the right size socket. I "took work from union labor" when I did that, though that factory had the attitude of "if you're making my life easier, it's okay". Factory #2: I've also worked places where the union workforce pushes for wage increases for every tiny thing that changes. You took added a monitor to the computer they run a machine with, you moved a few buttons on the interface, you change the process to greatly reduce the safety risks and also reduced labor required by a marginal amount. All of those have been brought up as reasons they deserve a raise. Factory #3: experienced downtime due to a mouse running into a 2' pit on the production line. The workers exited and refused to return to work until they saw the dead mouse come out. Not directly relevant to the conversation, but a fun story to tell.