There was a series of one day strikes about three years ago which did achieve their purpose. Changes were being made to a specific pension scheme illegally. After three one days strikes, the changes were reversed.
Like any other organisation in life, there are good unions and bad unions. The biggest problem is apathy by the workers. When it comes to voting for the leaders, how many bother to read the profiles of the members standing for election? This is why the activists tend to get voted in, because...