History Main / UnionsSuck

* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'': One skit parodying ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder'' has Bob and friends kill a group of union thugs who try to stop him from doing some scab work.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* DependingOnTheWriter, ComicBook/{{Batman}} comics will sometimes use "unions" almost interchangeably with "mobs". ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', for instance, has one of Bane's lieutenants telling him "the unions are ours" after he successfully kidnaps the children of an aging [[TheDon Don]].
* Played with in the "Dead-End Kids" arc of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', in which the Runaways are sent back in time to the 1900's and Victor gets involved in a labor strike. On the one hand, the unions have criminal ties and aren't afraid to throw punches, but on the other hand, the cops and the industrialists are far worse, with the cops being xenophobes who enjoy beating up immigrants and the industrialists allowing their own workers to die in unsafe conditions to save money.

[[AC:Comic Strips]]

[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]

* [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] in ''Film/{{Eraser}}'', where Arnie's character employs his previous ward's [[TheMafia mob connections]] to slow down the bad guys. They show up at the docks where the baddies have set up their smuggling operation and demand they only use Union labor. There doesn't seem to be a big difference between "Union labor" and "mob connections", as far as they are concerned.
* ''Film/GrossePointeBlank'' combines it with the WeirdTradeUnion, as they are [[MurderInc assassins]]. It is definitely on the corrupt side of the trope, with all union actions being targeted at either forcing membership (and thus sucking up part of members pay for their contracts) or simply killing any non-unionised assassins. It's all PlayedForLaughs.

[[AC:Literature]]

-->''"I'm sure the Hollywood unions are just waiting with bated breath for coding and multimedia production to unionize. What's it going to be - I write the code and then somebody from I.A.T.S.E. comes in and has to press the return key?"''

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]

* On ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', many jokes are made at the expense of construction unions, such as that [[StraightGay Mikey's ]]union gives everyone the day off whenever anyone on a crew has a birthday, and that some people are hired as "hole watchers" who stand around watching other people dig.
* In ''Series/TheWire'''s second season, the stevedore's union is corrupt, helping smugglers move their products in exchange for money that their boss Frank Sobotka is using to try and bribe officials to expand the docks, allowing them to bring in more [[CriminalCravesLegitimacy legitimate]] work.

[[AC:Music]]
* "Get Back in Line", a song from Music/TheKinks' ''Music/LolaVersusPowermanAndTheMoneygoroundPartOne'', is about a young man trying to keep his (and his significant other's) head above water by looking for work at the union hall. The official always "walks right past", passing him over.

* The Strawbs' anthem ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtiaReNsHOo Part of the Union]]'' was released in the middle part of TheSeventies and was intended as ironic and critical comment on the (perceived) over-powerful, selfish and greedy trade unions, who were apparently holding Britain to ransom. [[note]]The fact so many people on the Left have reclaimed the anthem and sing it straight has always annoyed the songwriters, but that's a different story[[/note]]

[[AC:Podcasts]]
* ''Podcast/{{RiffTrax}}'': In the riff on the commercials that aired during ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'', they joke that a union means "kickbacks and secret ballots and bodies buried in end zones".

[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AnnasQuest'': One of prison guards complains about union which is „practically non-existent" because meetings are always postponed to another time
* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'''s CrapsackWorld skewers all forms of organizations and ideologies, with unions being no exception. The Debardeurs' Union that controls Martinaise is basically just a [[NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters Neighborhood Friendly Gang]], led by the corrupt Evrart, and sustained by [[spoiler:an illegal drug trade]]. Their saving grace is that they have imposed some form of order and law in the deteriorating town and the corporation they oppose is ''[[GreyAndGrayMorality also]]'' corrupt and morally bankrupt. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:while Evrart does genuinely believe in socialist ideals, he still wants to be the one in charge when the revolution happens once again]].

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoon'' short "WesternAnimation/CaptainSturdy: Back in Action" is about an OldSuperhero forced to come out of retirement because the superhero union raised the retirement age. The union is too busy building expensive new facilities to properly train their superheroes, making them lackluster crimefighters.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Fred and Barney need to have a house moved, but the workers they contracted spend most of their time on union-mandated breaks, forcing them to do it themselves.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E6BendlessLove Bendless Love]]" it's revealed the factory of Bending Robots strike is supported by the Robot Mafia, who are even the "duly elected" mobsters of the union. They likewise try to kill Flexo for being a scab, though granted this is cause Donbot is enraged at the idea of money being paid out to workers without him getting a cut.

* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'''s CrapsackWorld skewers all forms of organizations and ideologies, with unions being no exception. The Debardeurs' Union that controls Martinaise is basically just a [[NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters Neighborhood Friendly Gang]], led by the corrupt Evrart, and sustained by [[spoiler:an illegal drug trade]]. Their saving grace is that they have imposed some form of order and law in the deteriorating town and the corporation they oppose is ''[[GreyAndGrayMorality also]]'' corrupt and morally bankrupt.

* ''Characters/TheVentureBrothers'':

They are often also tied to or owned by one of the many types of [[OrganizedCrimeTropes criminal organizations]] (most notably TheMafia), and if so may serve either as [[TotallyNotACriminalFront a front]] or a money laundering tool, and are likely to be used for smuggling if they have anything to do with transportation. Police unions in particular are often portrayed in left-leaning media as covering for {{dirty|Cop}}, {{bigot|WithABadge}}ed, {{rabid|Cop}}, and/or {{killer cop}}s. They may also be portrayed as {{Category Traitor}}s to organized labor as a whole for harassing workers trying to organize other workplaces.

They are often also tied to or owned by one of the many types of [[OrganizedCrimeTropes criminal organizations]] (most notably TheMafia), and if so may serve either as [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub a front]] or a money laundering tool, and are likely to be used for smuggling if they have anything to do with transportation. Police unions in particular are often portrayed in left-leaning media as covering for {{dirty|Cop}}, {{bigot|WithABadge}}ed, {{rabid|Cop}}, and/or {{killer cop}}s. They may also be portrayed as {{Category Traitor}}s to organized labor as a whole for harassing workers trying to organize other workplaces.

* Alluded to in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': During the quest "Unlikely Valentine", the player eavesdrops on a conversation between 2 members of the Triggermen gang. One wonders why there's a vault beneath a subway station when it wouldn't be airtight, defeating the whole point, and his friend tells him that a common scam in Pre-War America was to get a load of union boys to run PointlessCivicProject a construction job that wasn't intended to go anywhere but still keep everyone on payroll.

'''Useless unions''' are likely to be full of {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s, have weird rules that get in the way of accomplishing anything, go on strikes for ridiculous reasons (especially if a WeirdTradeUnion) , or get in the way of firing members who are in the WrongLineOfWork.

* [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] in ''Film/{{Eraser}}'', where Arnie's character employs his previous ward's [[TheMafia mob connections]] to slow down the bad guys. They show up to the docks where the baddies have set up their smuggling operation and demand they only use Union labor. There doesn't seem to be a big difference between "Union labor" and "mob connections", as far as they are concerned.

* Unions and their leaders in ''Literature/TheGodfather'' are only described as a racket along the lines of [[LoanShark loansharking]] or gambling. After Vito Corleone offered to help Johnny Fontane with his cinema career, his ''consigliere'' Tom Hagen specifically tells him to ''not'' pay up these inflated costs, since the Family will take care of these.

* ''Literature/TheValleyOfFear'' portrays a coal miners' union as a front for a SecretSociety called the Scowrers, who were in cahoots with organized crime.

** Frank Reagan, the police commissioner, frequently clashes with the NYPD's union. In the second episode he heads off "blue flu" threat by the head of the NYPD union by bringing a large number of line officers into the contract negotiations, and wryly noting not a one of them has the sniffles. Several seasons later he nearly faces a no-confidence vote from the union for apologizing that an officer accidentally killed an innocent man.

* ''Series/CobraKai'': After the big school brawl in the Season 2 finale, the West Valley High School parents are furious that the school staff members not only let the incident happen, but that they've avoided any consequences for it. The school counselor explains that they were following the NEA's guidelines on student fights.

* On ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' many jokes are made at the expense of construction unions, such as that [[StraightGay Mikey's ]]union gives everyone the day off whenever anyone on a crew has a birthday, and that some people are hired as "hole watchers" who stand around watching other people dig.

* "Get Back in Line", a song from Music/TheKinks' ''Music/LolaVersusPowermanAndTheMoneygoroundPartOne'', is a young man trying to keep his (and his significant other's) head above water by looking for work at the union hall. The official always "walks right past", passing him over.
* "Livin' on a Prayer" by Music/BonJovi is about a working class couple, Tommy and Gina, who are struggling financially because Tommy is unable to find work on the docks due to a union strike.

* ''VideoGame/RegaliaOfMenAndMonarchs'': The Unity is, ostensibly, a union of peasants in the kingdom of Ascalia. In practice, their leader is an EntitledBitch who forces protagonists to solve assorted problems of her men, many of which were created by them in the first place. The rest of the Unity are a bunch of MedievalMorons, who don't even know what they want half the time, but are ready to get TorchesAndPitchforks up at a moment's notice.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E4BendlessLove Bendless Love]]" its revealed the factory of Bending Robots strike is supported by the Robot Mafia, who are even the "duly elected" mobsters of the union. They likewise try to kill Flexo for being a scab, though granted this is cause Donbot is enraged at the idea of money being paid out to workers without him getting a cut.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E17MaximumHomerdrive Maximum Homerdrive]]" it's revealed mid-way through that the truckers' union is running a scam where they've secretly installed "[[AutomatedAutomobiles auto-drives]]" in all the trucks. Whilst it was originally designed to take over in an emergency when the driver was incapacitated, all the truckers have gotten lazy and are using the auto-drives to do all the work, whilst still receiving their full payment for the jobs. When Homer and Bart's antics nearly expose the scam, they truckers flat-out try to murder them. At the end after witnessing Homer do an impossible stunt, one of them is inspired to go back to doing the actual work themselves, only for the others to dismiss the suggestion and move on to a new scam.
* ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'': In "The Last Stand", the Storm Hawks are stranded in the Wastelands with a bunch of unionized Wallop miners and are besieged by Mr. Moss with an army of fire scorpions. They work together to hold off the army, but the miners [[SkewedPriorities periodically stop working to take their scheduled breaks, even in the middle of being bombarded]]. They are also rudely dismissive of Junko, who idolizes them.

* In ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'', the Stevedore's union is controlled by mob boss Johnny Friendly, who uses it to extort workers to line his own pockets and sliences or kills anyone who tries to stop him.

[[AC:Films- Live-Action]]

* Series/LastWeekTonight: {{Subverted|Trope}} in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk8dUXRpoy8 Union Busting]] episode, which presents unions as necessary to workers' rights.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E17MaximumHomerdrive Maximum Homerdrive]]" its revealed mid way through the Trucker's union is running a scam where they've secretly installed "[[AutomatedAutomobiles auto-drives]]" in all the trucks. Whilst originally designed to take over in an emergency when the driver was incapacitated, all the truckers have gotten lazy and are using the Auto-drives to do all the work, whilst still receiving their full payment for the jobs. When Homer and Bart's antics nearly expose the scam, they truckers flat out try to murder them. At the end after witnessing Homer do an impossible stunt, one of them is inspired to go back to doing the actual work themselves, only for the others to dismiss the suggestion and move onto a new scam.

* Played both ways in ''Series/BlueBloods'' depending on the episode. Frank Reagan, the police commissioner, heads off a "blue flu" threat by the head of the NYPD union by bringing a large number of line officers into the contract negotiations, and wryly noting not a one of them has the sniffles. On the other hand, a later episode has Detective Danny Reagan being sympathetic to a labor strike at a construction site sparked by a deadly accident:
-->'''General Contractor:''' Damn union bloodsuckers./
-->'''Danny:''' [[ImStandingRightHere We're in a union.]]
-->'''GC:''' [[SarcasmMode And I'm happy for you.]]