That's hardly the only scenario. Sometimes they're chasing more profits.

> When has a union ever protected workers when a company was in distress? The auto industry? The airline industry? Flight controllers in the 80s?

Auto is a good example. In the last recession, UAW made significant compromises to keep the industry afloat. https://newrepublic.com/article/155088/gm-uaw-workers-strike When the industry bounced back, they struck to ensure those concessions were rewarded: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_General_Motors_strike

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_John_Deere_strike is another recent example of unions winning significant concessions after a company threatened to offshore.

> Investment bank William Blair & Company estimated that the strike likely reduced Deere's output by between 10 and 15% for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.[29]

The strike led to an increase in the already-inflated auction prices of used Deere equipment such as tractors and other used agricultural machines.[30]