I'm surprised at you Rob, you don't usually resort to quoting out of context. But man, I didn't even spot that one sentence you used when I first read the article, and had to find it by searching for "United Nations Day".

The full story is very different from--hell, it's the opposite of the impression you were trying to leave with that one cherry-picked sentence. I copied these excerpts as I read the article, and didn't go back and edit the list. Here's the raw truth:

This golden era for Bethlehem Steel was reflected not only on the balance sheets, but in the perks its executives enjoyed. They had gold nameplates, kept afternoon tee times for golf at the plush Saucon Valley Country Club and ate lobster and filet mignon prepared by company chefs.
...
Through it all, the steel industry was evolving, as other companies and other countries developed more efficient ways to make steel, always with a cautious Bethlehem Steel lagging. It was too busy making money to innovate. While other companies anticipated the future of steel, Bethlehem was surprised by it.
...
''They had bowls in the center of their tables, I don't know what it cost, if they were $1,000 apiece or what,'' says Ellie, a widow whose married name is Zsitek (pronounced ZY-tech). ''This is what aggravates me today, because there were so many executives and so much money spent. It's aggravating because I saw this, and it was overwhelming. They had their nameplates in 18-karat gold. Why is this necessary? They had special meals. I mean, lobster tails, filet mignon. That was nothing for them to have.''

Executives wanted to eat only the freshest steak, so black Angus were raised on the grounds of the Saucon Valley Country Club. Thirty-two executives — dining in two shifts of 16 — drank from crystal glasses, ate with engraved silver off the highest-quality china and sat on leather chairs.
...
Bethlehem workers had made great strides since unionizing in 1941, but as the company made huge profits, grimy, soot-covered men were still toiling at dangerous jobs that paid them less than $1 an hour.
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The next year, as an economic recession led to layoffs and job cuts in Bethlehem's work force, Fortune magazine put six Bethlehem Steel executives in the top 10 on the list of the nation's highest paid executives. Homer topped the list with $511,249 that year, and chairman of finance R.E. McMath took home $394,322.

Steelworkers at the time were making an average of $1.96 an hour. As the expiration of the 1956 contract neared, they were tired of Homer's argument against higher wages.
.....
On July 15, 1959, steelworkers at Bethlehem and across the nation went on strike.
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As a result of the strike, union workers got wages that took them out of the working class and into the burgeoning middle class. For the first time, they were able to move out of the shadow of the steel plant. For the first time, the bread-eaters could move across the street from the cake-eaters.

The headline in the Jan. 5, 1960, New York Times left no doubt which side won the strike of 1959: STEEL SETTLEMENT IS REACHED/UNION VICTOR, PRICE RISE SEEN/NIXON, MEDIATOR GAIN STATURE.

After that watershed settlement, steelworkers were so used to winning labor disputes that they asked for — and received — benefits they couldn't have dreamed of getting, such as 13-week vacations for senior workers and United Nations Day, Oct. 24, as a paid holiday.

The history of Bethlehem Steel is a good illustration of why people turn to unions. It was the greed and arrogance of the 1%, once again, that provoked the backlash.