The entire point of the german / Nordic union model is that by avoiding legislative action they can be more nimble and reactive to changes. Companies and unions don’t want legislation, and the governments are perfectly happy to let them handle things like adults.
That however only works when everyone plays ball.
Which is the case for 99% of companies. It’s only American ones internationally expanding who don’t realise other economies operate differently that get stung with this.
For decades, Ford and others have factories in Europe and have union members.
Because it largely is.
> For decades, Ford and others have factories in Europe and have union members.
These were handled very differently.
For the most part those were independent subsidiaries, under the same brand but playing with their own set of rules.
They commonly had different lineups entirely, for instance the Ford Focus was created in cooperation by the british (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_of_Britain) and German (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Germany) teams of Ford of Europe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_of_Europe), and while the Focus was designed as an international car, it is the direct descendent of Ford of Europe's first passenger car the Escort (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Escort_(Europe)), which itself directly descends from Ford of Britain's Anglia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Anglia).
It’s hardly a shock to most in Europe that many American corporations (whether by virtue of a subsidiary or not) attempt to bring their American sensibilities to the European labor market.