They can also drive up costs in other ways. My BIL went to a trade show last week in CA. The shipping company screwed up (not a union problem), so they rented a truck and took the booth, chairs, stands, monitors, flooring, marketing collateral.... to the show. He was there with a staff of 6 and could easily move all the stuff in (he says 50 feet), but because of some union rules they could only bring in one item and the union workers had to be used to bring in the rest.... for $100 a pop. Same with the take out after the show.