[pmyteh]

Not really, at least in the UK. You can join any union that will have you, and there are several big 'general' unions. But most employers will only recognise a single union (if that) per group of workers.

So, if you're an academic like me, you can join the University and College Union, and there will be a local organisation, probably a collective bargaining agreement with the university, and so on. Or join a different union and get no local representation and only 'central office' services. There are some places with multiple recognition (when I worked in local government Unison, GMB and the T&G were all recognised, with membership strengths in different parts of the council) but it's often just one. And that's if you're lucky: many employers recognise no unions.

Of course, the UK also doesn't have the closed shop (union membership is strictly optional) so there is a competition between member and not-member that keeps some pressure on the union organisation. And each European country has its own traditions of union organisation and different working cultures, so this probably doesn't extend outside of Britain.

[Thlom]

Fairly similar in Norway, but many of the "competing" unions both have agreements with the employer organization. My wife actually switched union because the other union had an agreement which allowed a certain type of shift schedule that the other union did not have.