Imagine you’re having a really bad day at the office. You’re scheduled to give a presentation to the board of directors later that afternoon, and you’re a little stressed out as your career sort of depends on performing well in front of this crowd.

Your boss comes into your office to discuss your less than stellar recent performance, and tells you that you won’t be giving the presentation because you’re just not doing a good enough job. Instead, you’ll be heading out to the satellite company in Tulsa to get some remedial training.

Now imagine that you get up from your desk, grab your elderly manager around the throat and violently throw him to the ground.

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What do you think your company would or should do in this situation?

I know at my company I would be fired and have presses charged against me. I’m guessing the same exact thing would happen at your company, too.

Unless you’re lucky enough (/sarcasm) to work for a union. Such as the Major Leagues Players Union for major league baseball.

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Shawn Chacon was a starting pitcher for the Houston Astros. and had just signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Astros to play this season.

However, he hasn’t exactly earned that money. In 15 appearances this season, Chacon was 2-3 with a 5.04 ERA.

General Manager Ed Wade got on Chacon’s butt in the locker room about his attitude and performance. Chacon didn’t take the criticism well.

He grabbed Wade around the neck, yelling and screaming at him, and then threw him violently to the ground. Here’s how Chacon described the incident:

So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him because at that point I wanted to beat his ass. Words were exchanged.

The Astros waived Chacon. Effectively firing him and refusing to pay him the remaining $983,607 of his $2 million salary this year.

Sounds like solid grounds for firing a guy to me.

But of course the Major League Players Union is filing a grievance to force the Astros to pay Chacon (not to reinstate him, just to pay him to go home and play golf).

And folks — in a nut shell, this is what’s wrong with unions. If you cant’ fire a man and terminate his already over-priced contract for assault and battery on the boss…what can you fire a man for?

If the union had any integrity or decency, they would tell Chacon to take a hike and go join another union — like the Auto Workers of America or the Teamsters or somewhere else where physical intimidation is the rule of the day.

But they won’t they’ll blindly stand behind Chacon and try to get him some more money.