Bob,
While with my last employer, Staples Distribution Center in Hagerstown, MD, I had the opportunity to experience a full blown unionization attempt. The one thing that stands out in my mind from that experience is that we actually had hourly associates picketing outside our gates AGAINST the United Steelworkers Union. We were told by our lawyers that they had never seen that happen before.
When the votes were tallied, 78 percent of the proposed bargaining unit had voted against representation by the Steelworkers. While having 22% of the workforce with the opinion that they needed a third party to speak for them is not the best case scenario, I had to take some satisfaction in the fact that 78% of our associates were confident that we were capable of treating them fairly and equitably and that they did not need a third party representing them.