LENOX >> Seeing Verizon union members on a picket line in Pittsfield and other East Coast states since Wednesday serves as a nostalgic reminder of a bygone era, when workers in manufacturing, service and a wide range of industries and professions could raise families on solid middle-class salaries and hourly wages. Now only 11 percent of American workers are unionized - 35 percent of public sector employees but only about 6 percent in the private sector.