Employment Relations between the Employers and the Labour Unions - Coursework Example

Employment Relations Table of Contents Introduction 3 Literature Review 4 Propositions and Arguments 7 Conclusion 10 References 12 Bibliography 15 15 15 Introduction An organization wherein a strong and healthy relationship prevails between the employer and the employees is duly considered one of the most favourable places of work. In a basic term, employment relationship is explained, as the legal connection exists between the employers and the employees. Employment relationship can also be regarded as one of the major aspects through which the employees can access their rights associated with employment practices (International Labour Organization, 2011). In most of the countries, it can be apparently observed that there are very less number of companies that does not possess any trade or labour unions. A few of the evidences such as CIPD (2011) provides a clear statement that there are very less organisations wherein the unions do not have any existence. It is also evidential that the labour unions have a high influence on the development of the business organisations. Justifiably, the trade unions have played a decisive role in the UK for developing the employment relationship with the help of introducing the procedure of collective bargaining and allowing the employers to design favourable policies for the employees (CIPD, 2011: 3-4). In an organization wherein both employers and unions are the part of work process, it can be stated that the employment relationship ensures successful running of business at large. With regards to the aforesaid subject, this essay is being prepared with an intention of gaining an insight about employment relationship, which prevails between the employers and the labour unions. The study has been conducted on this subject with reference to various literatures reviewed by different authors. In the conclusive part of the essay, a study has been made on the prevalence of employment relations in the organisations with unions and without the unions as well. Literature Review Employment relationship, as mentioned in the earlier section is one of the prime aspects of every business organisation. In this similar context, it can be apparently observed that the unions have a significant role to play in building up of the employment relationship. For instance, as per the notion of Guest (2004: 542), employment relationship is considered as one of the wide framework of rights and responsibilities of both the employers and the employees towards forming a healthy relationship in order to reap significant benefits. Guest (2004: 542) also stated that in the ancient industrialization society of the UK and the USA, there was high prevalence of unionism in the majority of the organisations in these nations (Logan, 2006: 651-652). They acted as the representative of the employees and always involved in the protection of the employees against their employers. At that moment of time, the existence of labour unions had given rise to various conflicts between the managers and the employees. However, with the evolution of the proper employment practices, there have been many changes in the workplace environment and also the employment relationship. In this similar context, Parkinson (2003: 485-486) also referred a similar notion as stated by Guest (2004: 543). Parkinson (2003: 485-486) stated that employment relationship could be made stronger within the business organisations by making the employees participate in the decision-making procedure. It is worth mentioning that involving the employees in the decision-making procedure is a measure of lessening managerial supremacy (Parkinson, 2003: 485-486). Thus, from the abovementioned discussion, it can be ascertained that the employees and the employers must work in accordance with each other to develop a better relationship with mutual understanding differentiating their own rights along with responsibilities. By taking into concern the ideas of Kaufman & Taras (2000: 135-136), it can be affirmed that the British industrial culture is being led by the notion of collective bargaining. This signifies that the employers are not obliged under the legal obligation to bargain with their respective employees. Kaufman & Taras (2000: 136-137) also stated that in the historical period of industrial revolution, the British companies had a strong influence of the trade unions. However, in recent years, the system of trade unions has gradually declined largely. It was apparently mentioned in the study that the role of the trade unions was to act as the representatives of the employees and fight for their rights and responsibilities. The best example to forecast the presence of both the union and non-union employees representation is that of the plant of a motor manufacturer namely Nissan Motor Company Limited in the UK. In the year 1989, the company formed a Council including all its union and non-union employees for creating favourable production process and achieving the profitability index (Kaufman & Taras, 2000: 417). Hence, in the above discussion made by Kaufman & Taras (2000: 5-10), a clear picture of the employment relationship with the union and non-union employees can be portrayed in a manner that raises the standards of the business organisations at large. In the report prepared by CIPD (2011), it has also been mentioned that high level of employee engagement is regarded as one of the key elements towards the development of employee representation. It can also be proved with the diminution of the trade unions in the business organisation context of the UK. Agreeing to the notion of the reports of CIPD (2011), the report published by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (2013: 2-5) also states that for the creation of successful employment relationship, collective bargaining is one of the most vital elements that need to be taken into concern. It is quite often that in the workplace wherein the employees are represented by the unions, it is likely that collective agreement may exist there. The notion of collective bargaining includes number of issues prevailing within the organisations such as analysis of the agreement through the level of performance by the employees. Collective bargaining must be designed in a manner so that it develops proper communication channel between the employers and the employees. The collective bargaining agreement demands for the development of proper communication channels between the employers and the employees so that there does not arise any instance of organisational conflict. There is a high possibility of evolution of the unions if there emerges conflicts within the organisations. Thus, to prevent such situations, many of the organisations adopt forming effective employment relationship along with the prevalence of collective bargaining so that the unions cannot actively participate in the work culture of the organisation (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2013: 2-5). Similar notions of employment relationship that have been described above can also be observed in the report of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2005: 1). It stated that the HR personnel and the professionals within the organisations consider certain fundamental elements need to be developed in the internal environment of the workplace for promoting successful employment relationship. These elements comprise empowerment and involvement of the employees largely within a specific organisation. Apart from these, there lay other requirements of the organisations such as the management of the organisations must set its own organisational philosophies regarding the employee engagement. Above all, the managers of the organisation must initially develop properly designed communication channels so that the problems of the employees can be solved at the initial stage, ensuring their greater safety and security. The introduction of these factors will certainly help the organisations to create a favourable work environment within the organisational boundary and promote safe as well as secured workplace. The other processes of collective bargaining will also help the organisations to prevent the emergence of trade unions. The prevalence of collective bargaining might encourage the employers to introduce a negotiation system so that both the employers and the employees can increase their productivity level at large (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2005: 1). Propositions and Arguments Employment representation enhances the efficiency of the organisations and most vitally generates a favourable work environment for the employers along with the employees. However, in few of the cases, it has been apparently observed that employment relation often acts as the means of bargaining between the employers and the employees. It would be vital to mention in this similar context that in the UK, the trade unions have a significant role to play despite of the decrease in the number of the same. At the initial stage of the evolution of trade unions, it was strictly disregarded by the employers of various organisations. The reason behind this was that the trade unions acted as the representatives of the employees and fought for securing their rights against their employers (Frege & Kelly, 2003: 7-8). The involvement of the British firms and companies in the trade unions created an environment of threat for the employers regarding the diminution of their roles and responsibilities. Due to this reason, the employers formulated newer rules and regulations for the trade unions regarding their involvement in the recruitment as well as the selection of employees. On the other hand, the trade unions made deliberate efforts in formulating internal strategies against the employers and take the acquisition of their roles within the organisations. Above all, the group of people who were suffering due to the conflicts arising between the employers and the trade unions were the employees belonging to diverse organisations. Both the trade unions and the employers were struggling to maintain their dignity and position in the organisations, which again hampered the interest of the employees by a certain degree (Wright, 2011: 12-13). In recent times, the system of trade unions has diminished largely. In the present business scenario, employers act as the unions representing their employees and meeting their needs to provide them with the favourable work culture. The employers dislike the prevalence of trade unions due to the reason that if the unions are serving the employees in meeting the needs of the employees, it needs to work in adherence with the interests of the employees. In other words, this can be explained as that an effective trade union acts as the player to assist the employees in meeting their goals through the implementation of collective bargaining and preventing them from any kind of industrial conflicts that takes place in the workplace. In this similar context, it can be stated that the trade unions impose significant impact on employment representation as well. Bryson & Forth (2010: 5) affirmed in this regard that the impact of the trade unions on the employment relation is largely dependent on the monopoly bargaining capacity and voice of the unions. It is also worth mentioning that an effective union with broader bargaining and voice capacity can be favourable for the creation of sound employment representation (Findlay & et. al., 2009: 236-240). It is also believed that the existence of the trade unions can act as the negotiator between the employers and the employees so that the employees can secure their rights and authorities in a broader manner (Bryson, 2005: 1114-1115). On the contrary, there lay certain evidences, which reveal that employment representation tends to be stronger in the non-union environment. The stronger employment representation in case of non-unionised workplace can be witnessed due to number of reasons. Bryson & Forth (2010: 6-8) stated that the unions start working from the area wherein the majority of the employees’ problems exist. Moreover, it has also been noticed that often, the unions play the role of raising awareness about employees’ problems in the workplace with an intention of modifying them through negotiating with the employers. This situation creates a frequent flow of information to the employees making them more aware about the formation of a critical employment representation within the organisations. According to the perspective of the employers, it can be noticed that the employees who become much involved in the unions tend to prove their dissatisfaction towards the organisations. The other ground based on which it can be stated that the employment representation becomes stronger in the presence of non- unionised environment within the organisations is the voice of the unions. Earlier studies based on employment relationship depicted that unions encourage the employees to solve the problems that they face in workplace rather than solving those in earlier phase. This denotes that the unions help the employees to solve their respective problems that they face in the workplace but does not prevent them from falling into job dissatisfaction (McCormick, 2011: 301). Specially mentioning, unions often encourage the employees to perform better work in the areas where they get maximum support from the employers. On the other hand, it can also be stated that the unions work for meeting their own needs rather than the needs of the employees at certain times. This might be regarded as one of the probable reasons for the trade unions to raise conflicts affecting the sound relationship prevailing between the employers and the employees. From the above propositions and arguments, it can be affirmed that the majority of the evidences prove that the existence of unions has a wider range of negative effects on the organisational and employees performance level. Previous studies and theories led to the formation of a belief that the collective bargaining strategy might raise the probable chances of leading the employees towards the creation of negative employment representation. On the contradiction to this particular notion, a few of the evidences also prove that employment representation tends to be stronger in the presence of trade unions. The two of the major strengths of the unions i.e. collective bargaining and voice eventually promotes strong and healthy employment representation within the organisations (Bacon & Storey, 2000: 408-410). Through the adoption of collective bargaining, the unions can promote forming, developing along with preserving better employment representation within the organisations. On the other hand, the voice of the unions can help in creating favourable employment representation in terms of encouraging the employees to have better performance and raising the profitability of the organisations (Blyton & Turnbull, 2004: 4-6). Hence, this study concludes that the existence of trade unions has both negative and positive impacts on the employment representation of the organisations. Conclusion As per the above discussion and analysis, it can be understood that the existence of trade or labour unions impose positive along with negative impacts on the effectiveness of the organisations. It is worth mentioning that with collective bargaining and voice, the unions can act as the negotiator between both the parties and solve any sort of employment related problem by a certain degree. The prevalence of healthy employment practices also promotes in the creation of favourable working environment along with the mitigation of the employment representation gaps. As mentioned in the earlier section, a majority of the British firms have discarded the unions due to the belief that these creates unfavourable impact on attaining positive outcomes for the employees at work. Specially mentioning, the unions might also face huge challenges in gaining commitment of the employers towards the fulfilment of the employees’ needs. The voice and the monopoly bargaining capacity may, at certain times, lead towards poorer employment representation in cases when the employees are expecting higher degree of support from their employers. Thus, it cannot be completely stated that the trade unions always create negative outcome on the existing employment representation within the organisations. The employment representation is largely dependent on the prevalence of the work culture and empowerment of the unions within the organisations. Therefore, it can be concluded that the persisting employment representation has the probable chances of deriving both positive and negative outcomes within the organisations at large. References Bacon, N. & Storey, J., 2000. New Employee Relations Strategies in Britain: Towards Individualism or Partnership? British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 407-427. Blyton, P. & Turnbull, P. J., 2004. Dynamics of Employee Relations. Palgrave Macmillan. Bryson, A. & Forth, J., 2010. Union Organisation and the Quality of Employment Relations. National Institute of Economic and Social Research, pp. 1-55. Bryson, A., 2005. Union Effects on Employee Relations in Britain. Human Relations, Vol. 58, No. 9, pp. 1111-1139. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2005. What Is Employee Relations? Change Agenda, pp. 1-20. CIPD, 2011. Employment Relations. Survey Report, pp. 1-20. Findlay, P. & et. al., 2009. Collective Bargaining and New Work Regimes: ‘Too Important To Be Left To Bosses’. Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 235-251. Frege, C. M. & Kelly, J., 2003. Union Revitalization Strategies in Comparative Perspective. European Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 7-24. Guest, D. E., 2004. The Psychology of the Employment Relationship: An Analysis Based on the Psychological Contract. Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 541-555. International Labour Organization, 2011. Employment Relationship. Promoting Jobs, Protecting People. [Online] Available at: http://www.ilo.org/ifpdial/areas-of-work/labour-law/WCMS_CON_TXT_IFPDIAL_EMPREL_EN/lang--en/index.htm [Accessed March 20, 2014]. Kaufman, B. E. & Taras, D. G., 2000. Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice and Policy. M.E. Sharpe. Logan, J., 2006. The Union Avoidance Industry in the United States. British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 651-675. McCormick, R. G., 2011. European Trade Unions and ‘Atypical’ Workers. Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 293-310. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2013. Employment Relationships. From Beginning to End, pp. 1-23. Parkinson, J., 2003. Models of the Company and the Employment Relationship. British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 481-509. Wright, C. F., 2011. What Role for Trade Unions in Future Workplace Relations? ACAS Future of Workplace Relations Discussion Paper Series, pp. 1-19. Bibliography Baccaro, L. & et. al., 2003. The Politics of the Labour Movement Revitalization: The Need for a Revitalized Perspective. Cornell University, pp. 1-14. Farnham, D., 2000. Employee Relations in Context. CIPD Publishing. Office for National Statistics, 2008. Economic & Labour Market Review. Palgrave Macmillan. Wanrooy, B. V. & et. al., 2011. The 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study. Reporting Conventions, pp. 1-42. Read More