All these companies you have mentionned are large at best, I am talking about huge companies like Alcan, Bombardier, Cisco, Tesco, Carrefour (Random selection).
How many Italian banks are world leaders for example? You have 2 in France alone, won't even talk about the UK.
These are the people that fill your front cabins, this has only served to exarcebate the union problems. Trust me, Air Canada unions are nothing to sneeze at either.