I protest.

Why unions are important.

This article explains perfectly just why unions aren't just a good idea, they are essential for workers: Ravings of a Textual Deviant: Call Me Norma.

There's no such thing as a union for software engineers, but fortunately we tend to have the power to negotiate on our own. We're rare and individually important enough that companies realize that they have to work at pleasing us or we'll walk. (Although at the moment, with Mr. Moron's economy the way it is, that's not true, and those who are hiring know it.) This isn't true for a grad student. As far as a university (both staff and faculty) is concerned, a grad student is completely replaceable, so why should they worry about pleasing them.

A union is pretty much the only effective way to fight this kind of thinking.