I live in Canada, health insurance with the government here means you get quite well covered, though my Mum (now retired) with MS might say otherwise; the already-expensive drugs she has to take would otherwise probably cost tens of thousands per month. She had to go to the hospital a little while ago due to a burst appendix and her insurance covered a private room for her privacy. Unions I wouldn't know about, I just know that once you have a gov't job, you're set for life unless you do your job poorly intentionally, even then then mostly you'd get passed around between departments getting "promotions" and "extra training" (true story/anecdote about one of my Mum's former co-workers). It's difficult to get rid of you. Here in Canada, whenever there's a holiday where you'd get the option to choose which day off you'd like, such as Thanksgiving's Monday or Friday, the gov't always gives you both. Guaranteed pay raises, I imagine are due to your pay also being based on your years of service/experience.
