So, you have a union whose leadership is so stupid they can't understand that the company is broke, yet other unions know it's broke.
Sounds more like a stupidity thing than unionism per se.
“Sounds more like a stupidity thing than unionism per se.”
Let’s put it another way. If there was no union, there would have been no strike, and 18,000 people (probably more, if no union) would still have a job today.
NOTHING good comes of unions, whether it’s stupidity or outright evil. In this case, it may have been some of both.