Maybe it’s different in USA. But unions in Germany basically mean, that one would get salary according Union table for particular federal state. Plus the working conditions are a bit better than in owner led companies. However union can’t do anything about layoffs or toxic teams. So thanks to unions all white collar salaries are capped at somewhere near 120000€.
Wherever there is a Tarif, there are Außertarifliche Angestellte who can freely negotiate their salary, if it is at least 110% of highest Tarifgehalt. Unions cannot do anything about layoffs because that's the job of the workers council. Who are quite powerful in that regard . Unions are for coordination across the whole industry. Sure, you can still have a toxic boss - bit she cannot fire you at will!
