It's also worth noting that unions work a hell of a lot better when the government is used as an intermediary before them. The US government is terrible at this -- wildly inconsistent with no institutional structure for it outside the President really.
It works better in countries that have "peak" organizations that represent unions nationally that consult with upper management. The also have formal institutions for the government to insure unions or business is not out of line.
So in this narrow sense, there is real institutional differences between US/UK/Australia etc. and countries with a more institutionalized union set up. There aren't these kind of barriers for healthcare or education that I can see.
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