The CEO and the rest of senior management serve a very real purpose -- whipping boys for the unions.
If you were all self managed and self-directed, you'd have nobody else to blame but yourselves...
Seriously, if y'all would take just half the energy you expend on bashing management, and direct it towards the real enemy --- your worthless union --- you wouldn't have half the complaints and grievances you do right now.
I'll take a stab at this one. I spent 15 years in another industry where management actually "RAN THE OPERATION". We were unionized but we knew who was in charge. We were all expected to clock in on time and be in your work area ready for an assignment or continue on the previous days project. We had two 10 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch by the bell which you wisely heeded. There were expectations and accountability. The unproductive were fired. The thought NEVER occured to us the business was being mismanaged and as a result morale was high. You could say "I cut my teeth" in observation of how management should conduct the day to day operation's of a business. This grand experiment of letting consulting firms and unions run a business is a dismal failure.