And the reporting of unions usually emphasises conflict. For the same reason conflict sells newspapers, it can arouse interest among students. Participating in it can also be a major solvent of accepted ideas. Unions are a significant feature of contemporary societies, a factor in politics and economics. Their existence points to some fundamental conflicts of interest in this kind of society.
Unions are a way into history, geography and social studies.
Unions provide a way in which ordinary people can collectively shape their world, especially their world at work. The more people understand unions the more likely they are to join them. In stating this I am not arguing that we should present students with a single position. But I do think that, in helping them gain familiarity with a range of interpretations of institutions, events and processes, there is no way we can avoid 'bias'. Using newspapers, TV and other sources, students can identify the matters at stake and the course of the conflict over them.