It's not so much the wages, it's the benefits (which you alluded to a bit). It's the same thing that's leading us down the road to ruin in the public sector. It's going to hit REALLY hard when the majority of boomers start retiring with their "High 3 or 4" pensions that are 75% of their max wages with indexed guarantees. The problems with the cycle are probably not any more obvious now than they were, but politicians do a better job of protecting their own asses than the taxpayer. 'Tis always been that way.
You can hide bad decisions with fuzzy math, speculation, and projections for awhile but eventually the market will bite you in the ass. The UAW negotiated some terrific deals for their members and coupled with some horrible mismanagement by the "suits", brought the industry to its knees over term. That's what greed/lack of understanding of sustainability brings.
No one is immune to criticism in this instance but the American taxpayer is holding the !@#$ing bag and that sucks.