Problems and Issues Trade Unions Face in the UK - Essay Example

Introduction A trade union is a representative of employees’ working conditions and terms of employment to the ity for the purpose of improvement of employees and employers’ relationship and working conditions states Clegg (1976). Trade union leaders negotiate with the employers for the employees’ right of employment on issues like their leave entitlement, payment and compensation rights and the decisions agreed upon by both parties are binding to the union members. Therefore, trade unions meet frequently for the purpose of discussing any conflicts or complaints that may be there and there after, come up with an agreed decision. Failure to come on an agreement on the negotiations made, the trade unions are entitled to strike. Capitalism is a form of governance where, the land, labor and other factors of production are privately owned states Clarke (1978). Trade unions can be defined from this perspective as the representatives of the employees’ terms of employment to employers and government from a given policy which is based on the person who privately owns the union. The trade unions here are not government controlled but privately controlled. Trade union from a radical perspective can be defines as the representation of employees from the industrial and commercial sectors only. These are the unions that only focus on the two business sectors but they are not necessarily privately owned. Marxism emphasises on the workers’ rights to enjoy the fruits of their labor. It thus defines trade unions as organs which represent work towards ceasing employees’ harassment at work place and ensuring they enjoy the benefits and results that come from their work. Lionel (1968) states that in the UK, most unions belong to the Trades Union Congress, which represents many unions, and hence has more power over issues effecting workers nationally. Therefore trade unions act as a voice for the employees and often take on the role of challenging and updating contracts and conditions for members and also protect the members from harassment and employment related legal issues. Trade unions sources of power and to what extent these sources have power. Rosen (1969) states the main sources of power of the trade unions as the government, employers, and employees. These are the key sources of trade unions as they are the determinants of the representatives in the trade unions and the legal issues that it should abide to. Stewart (1986) argues that if a union does not have a good collective bargaining style, then it will lose its members who are the employees. On the other hand, the employers and the government are a source as they dictate to what extend the union should act as a representative, thus dictating also the extend of trade unions power. The government dictates the extent of union’s power as it gives them the legislative rules and laws to abide to. It also gives requirements needed to qualify being a registered trade union argues Claud (1996). Therefore the above sources are still the same which dictate the extent of power a trade union has. Area of Trade Union Power Decline in U.K Trade unions in U.K have become ineffective since 1979, when the U.K government became a conservative form of government. This government brought an anti-union legislation which made all trade unions ineffective, thus resulting to the power decline of trade unions in different areas which are states George (1902), Manufacturing Industries: This area dealt with the manufacturing of things such as steel, engineering (for example car manufacture), printing, coal manufacture and the docks. This area declined in the 1970’s due to the existence of the conservative government which led to a massive decline in the manufacturing jobs. Private and public service sector: This was also another area that experienced a trade union decline by 13% argues David (2010). It was reported that sales and customer service representatives or workers in unions declined massively, thus being another area affected. General and transport area: This is also an area that experienced a decline due to membership level deduction in the union. These are the areas that experienced trade union decline in U.K which occurred between 1970 and 1990. Problems faced by Trade Union Congress in U.K. Trade Union Congress (T.C.U) was greatly affected by the new governance in the 1970’s which resulted to it having problems on five major areas which are; Organisation position; The T.C.U had a problem with the organizing of its members. It did not have much priority on organisation of its members and in their representation the employers and government thus being a major problem to the union. Representatives: The union lacked enough and efficient number of representatives in the workplaces of different sectors. This was a problem to the union since its main role is to act as the representative on behalf of the workers. T.C.U structure: The unions’ structure was not properly structured and thus seeing its results or outcome was a challenge argues George (1891). This was also a major problem as the members of the union could find it difficult to understand the union’s structure which was a major problem. Cooperation and Collaboration: The union had a problem of working together as a union and having connectivity aspect with other unions in the country. This was also a problem since it would result to the union being conservative and not to grow in terms of being informed. Inter-union conflicts: The union experienced a lot of conflict within the union which was a problem to the entire union. The problem was that dealing and solving these conflicts quickly was a challenge to the union thus resulting to a lot of time being wasted while trying to resolve these. These are the main problems that the Trade Union Congress faced in U.K. Trade unions act as representatives for employees to the stakeholders and the board of directors. They represent employees view and ideas but they also experience various problems. For example, they experience problems of membership levels argues Joseph (1996). If a trade union lacks enough members to support them, then they may have a problem of representation of its members. Another problem they may have is lack of trust and confidence of being representatives from the members. If a trade union’s members fail to have trust that you will represent them adequately at the high authority, then they may retrieve from being members of that trade union thus being a problem to the union. A trade union’s lack of frequent communication with its members may also be a problem to the trade union as this may make the members feel left out as they are not being updated on the current outcomes. This may result in making them feel mis-represented thus quitting their membership. Global trends may also be a big problem to the trade unions as they may be faced with competitive pressure from other trade unions. Due to the global pressure and challenge to trade unions, a lot of tension has emerged in the unions. The major problem causing this tension is the pressure trade unions get form its members. Employees pressure unions to establish a strong bargaining power with the employers and to maintain it. This becomes a big challenge to the trade unions. The above problems poses a major challenge to trade unions but the other problem that also face hem is the good representation of the employees needs to the employer. If a union fails to represent the employees needs to the employer and government effectively, its membership level is bond to go down thus being a major problem to the trade union. Solutions and Recommendations to the problems Trade Union Congress can solve these problems effectively by first giving more priority to organising states Mary (1966). By doing this it will not only solve the problem but also make the union become more advanced and effective. It should also work upon having more and better workplace representatives which should have a more logical structure that will be easily understood by the members. Unions should strive to work together with other unions both locally and internationally, so as to promote membership and get a coherent union brand states Aspinall (1996),.When dealing with inter union conflicts, it should come up with good ways of handling these so as not to waste too much time on it. These are the good and effective solutions and recommendations of dealing with the above problems. The best way trade unions can solve their problems is by improving the situations of workers by making sure that their needs are considered, and sustaining negotiations of the employees working conditions to the employers and the government. Globalization challenge can be solved by the trade unions improving the workers conditions globally. They can accomplish this by enlarging cooperation at the national and international level. They should ensure that they establish a good collective bargaining power and those employees are treated equally and given the right to explore opportunities that arise. In the United Kingdom, trade unions have solved the problems by ensuring that they provide constant communication and information that may affect employees’ terms of employment to the members. Unions do this by providing its members with reports, Campaigns they have done and educational resources they may require. Trade unions can also solve its problems by providing training and employment services to its members states Addison (2002). This will be effective to the members as it will result to the advancement of employment opportunities for the members. They could also work towards unionizing of the workers who could be feeling underrepresented and face discrimination from other workers. This will result to the increment in the union’s membership level. Therefore in order to counter the above problems trade unions should put into practice the above solution and above all ensure that they are knowledgeable about national legislation and policies that are related to the employees that they are representing states Herman (2009). They should always have a planned action over what they do and strive towards financial performance improvement states Machin (1996). In conclusion, trade unions have become an integral in each countries economy as they work towards the improvement of the working conditions thus improving the economy. Therefore, trade unions play a very vital role in businesses both locally and internationally and thus, it should be encouraged and given government support. References Clarke, T 1978, Trade unions under capitalism: Atlantic highlands, humanities press. Clegg, H 1976, Trade unionism under collective bargaining: A theory based on comparisons of six countries, oxford. Joseph, G 1996, The government of British trade unions: A study of apathy and the democratic process in the transport and general worker union. Lionel, B 1968, The history of the Trades Union Congress: A pictorial survey of a social revolution, illustrated with contemporary prints, documents and photographs.  Rosen, S 1969, "Trade union power, threat effects and the extent of organization:" Review of economic studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36, no. 106, pp. 185-96. Stewart, B 1986, "Collective bargaining arrangements closed shops and relative pay:” The Warwick economics research paper series, University of Warwick, department of economics. David, G & Alex, B 2010, "The wage impact of trade unions in the UK, public and private sectors:" Economical, London school of economics and political science, vol. 77, no. 305, pp. 92-109. Addison, T & Belfield, R 2002, "Unions and employment growth: The one constant?” IZA discussion papers, Institute for the study of labor. Machin, S & Stewart, M 1996, "Trade unions and financial performance:” Oxford economic papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 213-41. Claud, C 1996, Union power: The growth and challenge in perspective, Oxford University press. Aspinall, A 1996, The early English Trade Unions: Documents from home office papers in the Public Record Office. Herman, C & George, H 2009, Trade union law and cases: A text book relating to trade unions and to labor, Biblio Bazaar publishers. George, H 1891, Trade unionism, new and old, London: Methuen & Co. Mary, R 1966, Trade unions in the United States, Publisher Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service. George, H 1902, Labor legislation, Publisher T. F. Unwin. Read More