"I think unions have served there purpose, and for the most part should be done away with"
Total elimination of unions and rescinding all laws related to collective bargaining rights would eventually allow the reversion of working conditions in the USA back to what they were many years ago.
Nevertheless, I whole-heartedly agree that at this point in history unions tend to get a strangehold on management which results in an unfair and biased fair market value of laborers compared to their employer's net profits and revenues. In addition, the bigger the union and the longer it has been around, the greater the tendency for union benefits that don't make sense, like excessive sick and personal days, 2/3 pay rotating layoffs during slow months, and early retirement parachutes for auto workers. In the case of public workers, unions have resulted in trends where salaries might be out of line with those in private industry for the same level of education and experience.
However, there are still cases that come up where representation is needed, so before throwing the baby out with the bath water, there should be some tough analysis and reconsideration regarding putting some limits on union power - which should reduce unions' stranglehold on power but yet still allow for collective representation of workers. This is a very difficult area to come up with a good compromise because the issues and industries are so broad and varied. However, it needs to be done. The solution is neither a blanket elimination of unions, nor a blanket acceptance of unions as they stand today.
