Mr. Monk and the Very, Very Old Man - S2-E5
Trivia: Patrick Cranshaw, who played Miles Hollings (the very, very old man), was 4 years younger than Bill Erwin, who played Hiram Hollings (the son of the very old man).
Mr. Monk Visits a Farm - S5-E14
Trivia: The bee keeper is being played by Tony Shalhoub's older brother Marcus. Marcus appears again as the priest who is leading the service at Stottlemeyer's wedding in "Monk is the best man."
Answer: The two men are trying to work out a secret deal between them without involving the union, which means the workers' interests aren't being represented and defeats the whole purpose of a union. The mayor would lose labor's support and Cusack's union troubles would just be starting.
Captain Defenestrator