Public sector unions help protect public employees from the very strong tendency towards abuse and corruption inherent in political control of large numbers of people&#x27;s salaries. They provide a counterweight to the bargaining power of government&#x2F;management in sectors where it&#x27;s not reasonable to expect people to change careers, and they are a subset of collective bargaining in general, which I believe is one of the cornerstones of a properly functioning labor market.