It appears there's a vicious cycle of sorts going on. If all unions did was keep a reasonable eye on safety and (let's say) sensible workers' rights, while als

It appears there's a vicious cycle of sorts going on. If all unions did was keep a reasonable eye on safety and (let's say) sensible workers' rights, while also offering a simple outlet for collective bargaining, I'm not sure many employers would have a problem. But we now seem to be in a position where the unions are protecting their very existence with provisions such as the one discussed that (at least at face value) seem nonsensical; and sadly these provisions become the reason that otherwise sympathetic folks start to understand why an employer might want rid of a union. (I've seen other examples of such silliness; setting up a venue for a large meeting in the US was far more time-consuming and frustrating than it otherwise might have been, because certain tasks on the project plan [some quite trivial] could only be performed by union members, who of course were not always aligned and available with the non-union workers.)