That is absolutely typical Rust Belt Union Shop thinking from the 1970’s. The Man is always trying to SCROOOOOOO you so you have every right to stick it to him. Still to be found in many quarters.
Example, back then in the late 1970s I had a summer “engineering job” with a coal company. The company was going to move its “field warehouse” (meaning warehouse close to the mines!) to another location. It was going to be done on 12AM to 8PM shift. I got asked to be the “management” present for that. I came in and the shop steward brought me a soft drink escorted me to the main warehouse office where there was a TV & radio etc. He told me there were more sodas in the fridge and to just stay in the office and “Everything will be fine!” The suggestion that I stay in the office was said with an inflection of ‘I really should do that!’. To make a long story short “they guys” robbed the company blind in the move! I was beside myself when I met with the senior management when I went back to my “regular duties”. It turned out they expected it and didn’t view it as a big deal. What I thought was weird about it. Stuff was stolen that no household would use, nor a small business like a carpenter, plumber or electrician. Even selling it on the “black market” would be a problem. Clearly people stole stuff just because they could it and it was “sticking it to the man” in some way.
A follow on is, “we can absorb every illegal we’re a
wealthy nation. Ultimately they contribute more than
they take!”