The sad thing is that in Europe the employee unions managed to sell many benefits as reasonable for the employer unions, like: - Paid sickleave that doesn't count as vacation - Several weeks of vacation per year - Voluntary and paid overtime for all workers, including salaried - Maternity/paternity leave of several months - Several month notice for layoffs - Minimum wages high enough to support you

Of course it's not all sunshine and rainbows, there are all kinds on smaller stupid things the unions insist keeping alive as they might worsen the benefits of some workers (even if they would benefit some other workers).

They also have managed to make themselves seemingly irrevelevant, as many younger workers believe all those existing benefits are rights that cannot be taken away.