That stuff is so wild to me. Here in Germany you don't just have the unions that represent you as a worker in a general gield of work, but there are also "Betriebsräte" (worker councils) in most large companies that are made up of employees representing the employee's interests in front of the company leadership. They are not HR, because they are not totally aligned with the leadership's interests. They are not unions, because they are more specialized.

From personal experience, working conditions in a company with worker councils or many unionized workers are IMMENSELY better than in companies without such institutions.

Worker's councils are even somewhat in the interest of a company owner, as happy employees and a good working environment are drivers of productivity and are otherwise hard to implement.