If AFSCME goes the way of the dodo, it's that dodo's own fault. I was an AFSCME employee for years at one of the Big 10 schools and the union was less than useless. Management had a great deal of out and out hostility to union employees, and a caste system governed university policy, with AFSCME workers at the very bottom of the bottom. AFSCME negotiators weren't even able to protect worker benefits that came at little or no cost to the university--including the Regents Scholarship (unlimited free classes for employees, of which I took advantage--now a mere memory). The University signals contempt for its clerical and administrative workers at every turn. It's not hyperbolic to say that those workers are treated like the scum of the earth. AFSCME never fought for employee dignity, promotion rights, regent scholarships, overtime pay, etcetera. etcetera. Therefore, the union should expect NO solidarity. It has historically been unable to adequately represent the school's clerical population.