I am well aware of the difference between the rank and file and union leadership and organizations.

As for corruption, the unions are currently primarily a mechanism for supporting a single political party with boots on the ground and millions of dollars, using dues from a considerable number of members who actually support other parties. Public unions are essentially laundering taxpayer money into political contributions. That's already corrupt enough for me.

As for the rest of union-related crime and corruption, I don't think you want a real tally, do you? Remember all the news about the Union Labor Life Insurance Company stock scandal back in the Enron days? Me neither.

I'll bet if we added up criminal activity in unions as a percentage of all unions, I could find a lot more crime than you could by tallying criminal corporations as a percentage of all corporations. Hell, just mention "Teamsters" to most people, and see what image comes to mind.

Modern unions have become a racket. My son got a part-time summer job at Safeway, just for a few weeks. The union demanded six hundred dollars from him, which would have been more than he earned. When I talked to management about it, I could see they were scared stiff. Looking around, they mentioned Trader Joes and a couple of other stores my son might want to check out next summer. Ones that weren't under the union thumb. Fortunately, he quit the job for school before the union could start making a stink about it.