The reason that strikes by unions are so feared is that it is union members who tend to be doing the genuine productive jobs in this country, such as in manufacturing and transport, and the country grinds to a halt when they stop working. Strikes by paper-pushers and desk wallahs are irrelevant as nobody would notice if they did go on strike.
Strikes are generally self-defeating as they damage the organisation in which the strikers are employed and can only lead to a smaller cake from which to take a slice. Mass demonstrations and media campaigns highlighting the union members concerns would seem a more enlightened approach. The days of Red Robbo and British Leyland are long gone.
Unions serve a useful purpose in protecting their members against the excesses of dictatorial or incompetent management, particularly where this compromises the safety of their members or the public. The concerns of their members can be communicated to management without exposing the members concerned to recrimination.
Unions will continue to remain relevant for as long as the "them" and "us" culture continues. Sadly, British management has a poor track record, think of the lacklustre performance of high flyers such as BP's Tony Hayward and the banker Fred the Shred then extrapolate it to the lower echelons. Ratan Tata's critique of Corus and Jaguar - Land Rover management is apposite: "In India, if you are in a crisis, if it means working to midnight, you would do it. The worker in JLR seems to be willing to do that, the management is not".
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/business/news/tata-hits-out-corusjlr-managers-not-walking-extra-mile-249