Role of Labor Unions in Organizations - Essay Example

Labor unions Introduction Unions are organized based on several issues. Government legislation is vital in the process of union formation. The guidelines offered by the government must be met in order to ensure easier enactment. On the same organization, worker issues and problems may vary significantly depending on personal issues and the status of the work place. The union’s main need is to evaluate the employee’s needs and present them to the administration so that they can be handled and solved. To form a union, employees must first discuss the issues that are affecting them privately and in the process lobby for support from the employees. During the private sessions the steps and plan of union creation are developing. The evaluation of the necessary requirements for the union is also addressed in the private meeting in order to sensitize the workers on the possibility of success as well as the challenges that may be met during the whole process. Such analysis will help motivate the employees to join the union being developed. During the private meeting research is conducted on the available unions and there area of operation or coverage. Legal implication and financial implication of the new union must be addressed in order to develop the understanding of the new situation. After research and evaluation of the legal implications of the union, worker can establish an appropriate bargaining unit (ABU). The ABU will facilitate indication of interest. A union can be formed only if at least 30% of those interested to submit official documents such as authorization card to show willingness to join the organization (Bradburn 67). The role of this step is to develop necessary support for the legislation process. After the establishment of the Appropriate Bargaining Unit, the committee must be able to obtain certification from the National Labor Relation Board. The certification can only be issued after meeting the necessary requirements for the union to be formed. The certification process ensures that the former union is legal and can protect and address issues of workers’ rights. After the approval from the national legislation, the union must conduct elections to fill the offices and help in defining the role of the leaders. The appointment of the chairman or union organizer will help when negotiations between management and the union is carried out. The chairman of the union organizer will be the representative of the union during the negotiation process thus facilitates the development of harmony between the union and company management. Research questions The following are the research question for the research Are unions important? Do the unions have a future in the changing human resource market? Literature review Unions have been able to help in the fight for workers right over the years with utmost success. The fight for workers’ rights has been remarkably successful because of the involvement of unions and trade unions that facilitate negotiations and give rise to the power of employees. The employee’s ability to succeed in the demands was made possible by the actions of the trade unions. Over the years, these unions have been able to champion for the rights of employees by lobbying for improvement of the work ethics or change in the working conditions of the people. The success of unions in protecting the will of employees Some countries still have powerful trade unions due to the inability of the government to effect the employment and safety laws developed. However, some countries have a better legal system which in turn eliminates the work of unions. America has the best legal framework that covers all the needs of the workers while ensuring that the employer cannot exploit the worker through the creation of a structured legal system. The ability to handle whole issues in employment makes the Unions irrelevant. The current setup ensures that the workers’ rights are protected by the government because laws have been developed that cover all the areas that may allow for exploitation. The future of unions Unions can make manager better because of several issues associated with the management and rights protection through the work of unions. Unions are founded on the principle of offering support and protection of workers from the issues of mistreatment. Through the protection of workers' rights a manager can learn to protect the rights of the workers making him or a better manager. The working condition is important and in most cases companies tend to ignore certain issues associated with the welfare of employees. Unions ensure that companies adhere to the set safety and occupational health standards in the country. The continuous monitoring of performance by union will help the manager to develop necessary understanding of the dynamic of the working environment. Such dynamic changes will influence the development of management skills and improve the manager’s understanding of the needs of the employees (Colombo, Cullen and Lisle 224). The managers are trained to deal with employees directly, but unions encourage the development of understanding and control within the employee fraternity. Human resource management entails the understanding of the necessary issue that could affect performance. Unions on the other hand are formed with the sole purpose of ensuring that the rights and privileges of the workers are protected. To merge these two objectives, managers are tasked with developing harmony and control of the situation. Managers therefore are better placed when the negotiations to solve an issue is done using trade unions because of the inclusiveness of the union. Unions will encourage managers to develop understanding of the needs of the various groups of workers with ease compared to conducting researches and interviews for the workers. Despite the ease of control, unions can be problematic fi the manager does not practice honesty and the rule of law. Protection of the workers right is supported by the union while the manager is tasked with the role of ensuring that the operations of the company run as planned. The union negotiates with management on issues of salaries and other related rights that could be violated in the production process (Bradburn 123). Labor unions and management partnerships will improve the performance of the company. For instance, Kaiser Permanente’s labor management partnership program trained workers as agents of change leading to the development of changes in the business in 1997. The program was applied in the nursing sector and it facilitated the achievement of patient satisfaction while lowering the cost of production. Additionally the partnerships help reduce employee absenteeism and also improve the employee retention. Companies with good trade unions tend to retain more workers than those with no unions. The unions will help the manager especially when handling issues of the training. Employee training is made easier when unions are engaged and involved in the training process making the whole process easier for management. The management can receive positive feedback as result of the partnership between the union and top management. Top management partnership with the trade unions ensures easy decision making with regard to issues such as the remuneration and salaries. These are the major issues of contention with the trade unions as such the manager can benefit greatly when working with the unions to achieve success. Success in management depends on the manager's ability to develop harmony with the unions. Management and unions should not treat each other as enemy but rather as partner in the organization thus limiting the development of harmony. Globalization and unions Globalization has affected the work of trade unions seriously leading to the need for the creation of international labor organizations. Globalization has enabled the establishment of companies without borders. These are companies operating in very many countries and may have a standard wage and remuneration structure that may be punitive in some countries. Additionally, the working conditions enforced by the company may be different from the expected standard of operation in the country leading the creation of a gap and misunderstanding. Globalization has been a major issue when addressing labor movements and the use of human labor. Companies move operations to other countries with the sole purpose of reducing costs and may infringe on the rights of employees in countries where the labor organizations are not strong. Through the use of expatriates, the company may reduce the employment of the locals thereby causing unemployment in the country (Bradburn 78). The success of the companies in the global market is a threat for local unions because of the control the company may have over the country’s economy. The headquarters of the companies are usually located elsewhere as such they could not be approached by the local union. In such cases the need for intervention by the international labor organization will facilitate success in the whole process. However, the international labor organizations have not taken the challenge presented making the protection of workers right complex and hard to deal with under international level. Therefore, local unions must seek to partner with the international community to develop the necessary strategy and approach to handle global business organization (Bradburn 78). International labor organization will achieve success in the country through partnerships. These partnerships will facilitate the understanding of the steps and methods of solving labor problems when dealing with the international companies. Globalization has changed several issues in management including the change in labor demand and wage level. Most global companies have a set of operative standards design with the sole purpose of creating harmony. However, these standards may be applicable in other countries especially developed countries. The difference in the standards can be solved by the negotiations with international labor unions. Negotiation with an international company is dependent on the ability to access the top decision making organ of the company. To access the top management of the company may not be possible for local labor union but the engagement of the international labor union may ensure success in the negotiation process. Globalization has made the negotiation process complex especially when dealing with issues of employee rights and protection. The success of globalization in marketing is not reflected on the protection of workers’ rights because there are not organizations and international support for the local union (Colombo, Cullen and Lisle 56). The challenges of globalization are massive that require the union to partner with international labor organizations in order to achieve success in the process. For instance, despite making profits in 2011 by the caterpillar company which owns EMD, the company locked out workers at its London plant on first January after the union refused to accept a wage cut from $35 to $16.50. Such conflicts can be resolved by an international labor organization that can approach the parent plant in the US and facilitate negotiations. Conclusion In the past unions were very important especially when addressing the issues between employees and the company. However, with the increasing globalization and legislation, it is becoming obsolete in countries with good legal systems that dispense justice at the correct time and fast. The enactment of supporting legislation, and enforcing of the law has helped in dealing with the violation of employment law. In conclusion, the current situation does not need unions in the protection of employee’s rights. In fact the rights and privileges of the employee have been covered in the labor laws and the employee can receive justice using the justice systems. The success of the whole process depends on the standard practice offered by the government. Changes in the legal framework of the employment laws have been a major boost for the employees. Union’s relevance in the labor sector has changed drastically with the increased transparency in operations. Works Cited Bradburn, Douglas. The Citizenship Revolution: Politics and the Creation of the American Union, 1774-1804. Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 2009. Print Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's,, 2010.Print Read More