Yet, almost every week there's someone writing online "this happened to me what do I do?". I mainly use my union for unemployment insurance, salary statistics,

Yet, almost every week there's someone writing online "this happened to me what do I do?". I mainly use my union for unemployment insurance, salary statistics, contract negotiation and conflict resolution. It's more like having a human resources department on your side than anything else. It's not "protections" that makes the difference, at least not for highly skilled workers, it's the knowledge and the bargaining power. And I somewhat doubt that US people don't want those "protections" because they are highly sought after when they are instead called "perks".