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you're describing a pre-20th century guild, not a union

I've only known one person who went into a trade union but it almost perfectly describes his experience. Right down to having an uncle in the union already.

In the US because of the merger of the AFL and CIO into the current AFL-CIO, "unions" in the US mean both the industrial "worker's rights" style unions like the CIO had, as well as the "guild" style unions of the AFL for plumbers, carpenters, etc. that are mostly about limiting the number of people in the field to make sure salaries don't crash due to oversupply.

> are mostly about limiting the number of people in the field to make sure salaries don't crash due to oversupply.

Notice that this is equivalent to ensuring that they crash three times as hard for the people being excluded, because they all still need jobs but are now stuck competing for not just fewer but also lower skilled jobs, and on top of that then have to pay more for housing etc. because trade work is being artificially kept in undersupply.

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