European unions are very different from American unions though due to legal differences. In USA they tend to have much more power over workers and many workers don't like that.
"many workers"? Citation needed.
An example of protections workers in USA lacks is "right to work", everyone has that in Europe but in USA it is said to be right wing anti union propaganda. The only one who is hurt by banning "right to work" is the worker, unions wants it though since it gives them more power over workers. Btw, saying that unions are on the workers side just because workers elect and pay them is like saying that politicians are on the peoples side since the people elect and pay the politicians taxes. It doesn't work that way, you need to protect people from politicians and also protect workers against unions.
Anecdotal, I know, but the only people I know that like unions are bad employees the union is overpaying and protecting.
Example: heavy equipment operators Union goes on strike for more pay ( its already prevailing wage+++), all the other unions go on strike to show “support”, in the mean time they don’t get paid. 10 guys on my friends crew went two weeks without pay. They wanted to work and had no issue with the pay rate only the operators Union did.
I've also known hundreds of people who love their unions, from a variety of industries and walks of life (health care, service industry, trades, heavy industry.)
This is also anecdotal, of course, but it doesn't seem right to make such broad claims with a veneer of fact or universality and then add that one little caveat, "anecdotal, I know"
Also, I doubt you’ve spoken to hundreds of individuals about their opinions on their union. lol
The teamsters were famously corrupt (until containerization anything that involved materials handling was a huge opportunity for graft) and of course some cities have unions get in the way (ever do a trade show in Chicago?).
But arguments that presume the needle being pegged to "paradise" or "hell" are unrealistic.