This Labor Day, we are counting the ways the union makes a difference—especially as we consider what it’s like to be without one. When Polly Gerber Zimmermann, a registered nurse who taught nursing at a unionized campus, started a new job at a nonunion campus, the reality of the advantages and protections she had had through her union hit home. “I never appreciated the asset the union was for my teaching when I was blessed with its benefits,” Zimmermann says.