I agree they align incentives, but there's a large degree of cynicism/skepticism and lack of understanding of how profit sharing is calculated among the workfor

I agree they align incentives, but there's a large degree of cynicism/skepticism and lack of understanding of how profit sharing is calculated among the workforce. I've worked places where the message that makes it to the represented employees is a far cry from what was presented in the union negotiations. E.g. The end employee thinks they're losing their pension when in reality, they're not, new employees wouldn't be getting a pension. I talked with a guy who worked 42 years for the same company and was on the bargaining committee when a work stoppage occurred. He said they always thought the company kept two sets of books - the ones they showed the union and the actual books. Nevermind that he worked for a F500 company which was publicly traded at least half the time he worked there, and he worked for the largest facility in the company, driving much of the revenue for the company. You also hear things about "the company going after tax write-off so they don't have to pay workers as much" when that write-off they're mad about is a standard cost of doing business deduction in the same way payroll is...the company is making a donation to a community organization or buying supplies, but they'd reduce their tax bill by just as much if they paid the money out to employees in the form of profit sharing, bonuses, or higher wages.