So, unions won't turn ivory towers into factories because they're factories already. That, in fact, is why they're ripe for unionization. Lamentably, this may be true. Universities have become businesses, and unions are probably more the symptom of this state of affairs than the cause. There are other symptoms of the trend, one of which was also the subject of a recent article in the Chronicle .
Most departments demand more published research either articles or books, or both.
What's more, the article notes that while teaching and public service once carried as much weight in tenure decisions as research and publishing, they don't anymore. Professors live and die these days by the printed word and the name recognition it affords them. Good teaching doesn't seem to matter anymore. Only reputation, prestige, pays in the commercial university. Professors have been both the profiteers and the victims of this corruption of their profession.