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They don't, of course. But solidarity goes a long way.

Workers don't collectively own the means of production in Sweden, but they are collectively pwning at the moment

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Edit: deleting my comment. didn't add much value to the conversation.

> average folks get fired immediately for not doing their job. A job that they agreed to do.

The entire point of a union is that you have enough collective agreement so that the company can't just fire everyone who pushes back. They can fire one person, or even many, but what if half of the workers are pushing back?

> also, mail workers don't "own" mail delivery.

They may not own it, but they do control it. Good luck getting your mail if every mail worker collectively decided to stop working.

> average folks get fired immediately for not doing their job. A job that they agreed to do.

The point of a union is to be able to push back on your employer, so that fighting for better conditions isn't a special privilege.

Special kind of privilege to have a union?