What’s wrong in the Gulf of Mexico?

Lots of things, of course, but Dean Corgey, Seafarers International Union vice president for the Gulf Coast region, notes one that kind of surprises me, though on reflection I suppose it shouldn't...

The offshore exploration, production and service industry in the Gulf of Mexico, to the best of our knowledge, is 100 percent nonunion and increasingly foreign. Past attempts to organize these workers have been met with bitter opposition–not from employees but from employers.

Unions train workers, enforce safety regs and protect whistle blowers. How much difference would a union workforce have made in the decisions and actions that led up to the current crisis?

100% nonunion and totally screwed up. Seems to go hand in hand.