It is curious how unions in America behave so very differently to unions in other places.
American unions almost universally seem to be short-sighted and completely protectionist.
This isn't the case in western Europe, so it doesn't seem to be inherent to a union.
This creates a communication hurdle between Europe and America. The expectations of what a union does differ so much, you could say Europeans and Americans mean a totally different thing when using the same word.