If that is true, then why are unions the biggest monopolies in the US? When was the last time you had heard of two unions competing? The AFL-CIO has a lock on the auto employees.
Hhhhmm, well seing as 87% of all workers in the U.S are non-union I struggle to see how it's a monopoly.... and as an aside, the argument that the unions are killing N. American auto is easily debunked. It's not the union workers...the people who actually make the product... it's the pension and healthcare costs for retirees that are causing so many problems.
The big 3 have been running for a long time now, enough for lots of folks (I don't have exact number, but it's at least in the hundreds of thousands or more) who have retired and now GM has to pay their pension and health care costs, and those health care costs only go up as you get older too!
Interestingly enough, all of the foreign competition that's killing the big 3, comes from countries with universal healthcare. Toyota doesn't have to worry about paying for their retirees healthcare costs as the government handles it.
But in the U.S, thanks to the fears of "socialized medicine" the big 3 are saddled with a multi-billion dollar burden which will only grow over time. Anywho, I find it funny that in the U.S the folks responsible for most of the heavy lifting are the ones getting blamed for all of the companies problems. Now if you wanna talk about REAL crooks sometime, car dealerships are a whole other ball game 
But you are right about the AFL in that they are too big. I agree with you on that-
Here's a little secret about labor unions.... they only work if everyone is active. The whole point is that it's a democratic affair... IF the members of the AFL got sick and tired of their union leadership they can replace it, or even break up the AFL and go with individual bargaining units. The law protects workers rights to form unions but it doesn't protect a massive union monopoly.
Saddly, as is the same in general politics most people simply don't care to do anything about it.
Being a member of a labor union means more work and attention is required than just your job, as you have to actively get involved in who is representing you to your employer and cast your vote on the collective decisions your union makes. Contrary to popular media talking points, union workers aren't all lazy slobs who want to sleep half the day and get paid 50 dollars an hour to do it... most are proud of their work and want to see their company prosper and succeed, but at the same time they also want to be able to put a roof over their families heads and god forbid have a little job security too.
Now where things go wildly wrong is when folks in the union stop paying attention to the decisions of it's leadership. THEN you get a situation like the AFL where suddenly the leadership becomes infinitely powerful as virtually no one even knows what decisions are being made on their behalf, not out of secrecy but simple lack of participation.
I'm a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), a union that many consider to be militant or radical. And the funny thing is I didn't even know I was going into a union job until the day I started and the HR person, at the end of the orientation, pushed a card with a funny emblem on it across the table and said
"oh yeah, forgot about this last part- you just gotta sign this card because your job is in a union shop"
I'm glad that I did get into a unionized job- it opened my eyes to many of the lies we are contstantly fed (and unfortunately some of the truths) about how unions operate. The one truth I discovered was that the most vocal complainers who also often demanded the most from management, tended to be the ones who didn't participate one little bit in any of the local meetings.
IF the members of mega-unions like the AFL and teamsters don't actively participate then you're probably right about the backroom shenanigans determining who gets the work. But, if the members actually carry out their due diligence we could see a much better result for everyone. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't throw the baby out with the bathwater- while there are certainly some crooked or poorly run unions out there, overall I think we're necessary for a middle class to exist in the first place!