Why Join a Trade Union?

The Labour Party was built on them; Margaret Thatcher set out to destroy them. Trades unions, who needs them? The answer is quite simply, anyone who goes to work and who cares about pay & conditions, equal rights, safety and training (or so the trades unions themselves would tell you). Others may call them wreckers and bullies, who just want a fight with the bosses. In a world of portfolio jobs and economic austerity, will people need unions even more for protection or have they had their day along with sheepskin coats and picket lines?