[xg15]

Can't confirm this for Germany - we usually have a single (dominant) union per trade or industry segment - e.g. Ver.di for the entire service sector. I think in this way, unions here are significantly more centralized than in the US.

Standard salary rates are usually negotiated by those dominant unions for the entire sector (though in the last decades, a lot of this stuff has been deregulated, so the salary rates have become less relevant today, except for state employees)

Employees are not required to join a union - however in every company above a certain size, they have the right to a work council. Unions can initiate an election for such a council even against the orders of the company's management. While the unions can enforce creation of work councils and usually offer ongoing support, the councils are generally independent and staffed by company employees.

See Ver.di vs Twitter for a current example where a work council is founded in opposition of management (text in german) : https://www.verdi.de/themen/recht-datenschutz/++co++43ec9312...