How do labor unions change the lives of workers in the united states?

They negotiate terms with companies and/or government to achieve better working environment for those who work in the US. (Often goes too far though).

the punishment for breaking the law would depend on the conditions or the seriousness of the law being broken, if he or she breaks the law while doing some great discovery or invention then it would classify as a scientific fraud. there are other words to describe the crime but scientific fraud would be the harshest one.