Left out one of my favorite anecdotes I’ve been a fan of for a long time.
Anybody ever heard of Testa Corp, Dismantling & Site Contractors? They were the powerhouse demolition outfit in the northeast for a while. Ran out of the Boston area, made their name as one of the primary subs doing demolition and excavating for the “Big Dig” I-95 reroute, wrecked out most of Ground Zero, old Yankee Stadium, a couple GM plants, dozens of bridges and other big, heavy things from Maine out into the Rust Belt. They had a fleet of Komatsu PC1250s, 1100s, a few 1000s, a bunch of 330-385 Cats, wheel loaders, yada.
Ol’ boy Steve Testa had a nasty habit of not liking to pay fringe benefits. So, while wrecking out a Ford plant in Wixom Michigan early last decade, almost every hall that ever sent Testa labor sued Testa Corp for unpaid fringes. Now, most people who don’t work out of a local probably won’t ever see fringes, but they’re pretty nice to have.
It ended up putting Testa out of business, but in the end the employees got paid and the hall put them on other work. But yeah, collective representation doesn’t work.