Labor Strikes -- Epic Fail

First, a disclaimer. I am in a management position in which I may be called upon to fill in for a striking union member, while gmjambear has been a member of a different branch of the same union while employed at his previous job, and I have a brother-in-law who is a union machinist. I clearly have several competing biases on the topic. Nevertheless, in the interest of trying to clear up a highly charged political issue in my own mind, I write.

As much as I believe it should never have come to this, it's become clear to me that the chief weapon of organized labor -- the strike -- has proved to be an epic failure. Without the "nuclear option" of a strike, organized labor as a whole is left at a profound disadvantage in bargaining -- one with disturbing consequences for our standard of living, our economy as a whole, and perhaps even our national security.

( Some real-world examples )

So what is to be done to prevent employers from running roughshod over their employees while unions become increasingly impotent and striking unthinkable? Let me think on that a bit.