My native Norway is much like Germany with respect to unions and speaking with my American side of the family, and following American news I get the strong impr

My native Norway is much like Germany with respect to unions and speaking with my American side of the family, and following American news I get the strong impression that laws protecting people's right to unionize are VERY WEAK in the US. They are also designed in ways which makes people end up resenting unions. I register a lot of union hatred in the US which simply doesn't exist in Norway. Part of the reason seems to be from how unions function in the US. You are either a union shop or you are not. People are forced to join the union or they are forced to not join it. People don't like being made to do things. In Norway it has always been free choice to join a union. There is no such thing as a "union shop". Unions in the US also don't seem to hold much power except in its ability to sabotage the company, and so that seems to be what they do. In Germany and Norway unions are more like partners with management. They are on the company boards. They can't be ignored as easily as in the US. To be heard in the US, it seems like unions have to cause trouble. I think this creates a very unhealthy union environment and creates a bad reputation for unions. Unions in Norway form hierarchies so that you huge national unions which together with representatives for employers negotiate work life in Norway on regular basis. The other part I think is that Norway and Germany has quite extensive welfare systems, so unions are not as actively protecting particular jobs as they are trying to protect people. Losing your job in Norway or Germany is not the same catastrophe as in the US. So people are more accepting towards it. Instead what people want to see is things like job training and aid to help you get a new job.