NukeLDO,
I didn't spend any time in a SY in VA but I did have numerous interactions with a SY from the left coast up in a certain wet corner of the US.
I think the epitome of inefficiency of that particular organization was that we had to rebuild a particularly large valve that took suction from the bilge. This valve was partially above and below the deckplate level. It took 3 yard guys to write the tagout, 2 guys to remove the deckplates that were in the way, 2 guys to take off the bolts, 4 guys to rig the valve out, 3 more guys to rebuild the valve, 4 guys to rig the valve back down, 3 guys to install the valve, 2 guys to reinstall the deckplates, 1 guy to paint the deckplate stantions, 1 guy to clear the tags, and 2 guys to test the valve, and 1 guy to finish off the paperwork.
However, somewhere after the SY guys put the valve in and the guys who were supposed to reinstall the deckplates, the guy who was supposed to paint the stantions gets there. Instead of saying "hey this isn't put back together yet, maybe I shouldn't paint it and let someone know that there is still something to be done" he instead puts on two thick coats of the two part bilge red paint, you know that really good hard stuff. It wasn't until we did a post work inspection that we found the problem. We asked the supervisor why his guys painted over something that clearly wasn't ready yet or why he didn't put the things back together(it was simply two bolts to put two pieces of metal together), he told us "He just does what he is told to do when he is told to do it. He isn't allowed to put bolts together, he is just a painter. The fastener guys are the ones who deal with bolts."
Same job, non-unionized work. 3-6 people total from start to finish, half the time. Most of the SY workers will tell you how they are scamming the system. They will slack off until their job becomes "critical path" which then makes their pay "time and a half". I have seen SY workers sleeping on the job. And none of these guys will ever get fired because they are unionized.
So that is why I have problems with unions.