Impacts of Labor Unions on Human Resource Management - Term Paper Example

 Impacts of Labor Unions on Human Resource Management Introduction Unitary movement of individuals of same cadre in an organization is helpful for the management to make the communication process easier, whereby the leadership of the institution can see the integration among the personnel. Existence of labor unions helps the management process helps the management save time and effort for effectively passing instructions and also, implement methods of evaluation and new changes without lapse of time. However, some labor unions exercise unfriendly modes of actions derived from their specified interests which affect the management negatively. The reasons of such immediate actions are often developed from issues related to ethical, political, and policy differences emerged from the views of certain individuals among the employees. In many contexts, certain external pressures on the working groups act through the hands of labor unions to disrupt the functions of management of most organizations and the net result becomes the loss of the organization. Functions of Labor Unions Since trade unions are integral part of industrial relationship, it is essential for the company managements to recognize and accept trade unions, legally and ethically for their survival. The presence of a strong union of employees can affect the management either in positive or in negative ways. As for the positive effects, the unions can work on collective decisions to improve the productivity and profitability of the management with intent to acquire material and immaterial rewards from the organization. They can put pressure on the managements for improved working conditions and safety at workplace for prolonged and rather effective working hours for their monetary benefits. They can also make immediate decisions among the workers to react more cautiously to improve productivity to reach top positions in the competing market conditions where other companies exhibit their promotional excellence with respective work groups. Effective management of unions also helps the leadership to integrate workforces towards the common goal in due consultations with the union representatives. Impacts of Labor Unions While considering the efforts put in by the management to regulate the unions in the organization, the human resources management has to consider the difficulties in surviving their impacts. Most significantly, the unions are eager to engage in collective bargaining whereby their demands for monetary as well as functional security in the organization expected to be protected. Some observations say that, “demand for fairness leads the union to get into almost every area of day-to-day managerial decision-making at the workplace level” (Verma, 2005, p.3). Thus the demand of the trade unions for their active involvement in the decision-making process interrupts the managerial policies to a great extent. While being driven by the group enthusiasm, labor unions may move against the policies of the management and create causes for reduced productivity, if they think the management is careless about their demands. Most unions have a tendency to motivate its members negatively against the organizational policies by taking the benefit of their right to collective voice. Human resources management (HRM) often finds it difficult to solve the issue of such a move among the employees, especially in emergency conditions. There are some indications of instances where the misuse of this collective voice that stood unfavorable to the management. Based on the specific opinion of Masayuki (2009), labor unions, while serving as a collective voice may help enhance the productivity, but they can act as monopoly bargaining agents which can create a negative impact on the productivity of the management. A basic factor contributing to the harsh movements of the members of trade unions is their fear of replacement threats from employers. Autocratic management models followed such norms as punishment against which the unions sought support from political parties. As Murillo (2011, p.14) points out, the fear of replacement has been reduced once the union leaders built long-term alliances with political parties. This kind of external support often strengthens the unions to revolt against the ethics and situational correctness of their actions. When the political parties are behind them to guide and pull the thread, they get empowered by the benefit of laws to protect their rights irrespective of the interests and capabilities of the management. Such a situation seriously affects the quality of the human resources management in its independence to implement strict measures for fair evaluation of employees and disciplinary actions. However, it becomes responsibility of the HRM to regulate the productivity without trials for inflating the possible issues. According to an opinion, “any impact of unions on productivity must reflect the way in which management and unions interact.” (Addison & Schnabe, 2003, p.127). As such, every HRM must be able to analyze the direction of employee movements and listen to the sense of their collective voice with absolute attention to foresee the discouraging future. The stronghold of labor unions may eventually control the managerial initiative to monitor the productive functions of employees in the organization. Unlike in the past, employees are always alerted about their esteem needs from the classes of unions. Their union gives them immediate energy to react to such moral violations from the part of the HRM in the organization. According to the estimation of Duening and Ivancevich (2003), certain practices applied by some managers to function employee surveillance hurt their sentiments, and the chances of a reaction is more when the union is strong in their favor (p.69). Labor unions as a whole are intended to work for the physical, economical and ethical wellbeing of the members comprising basically of the ground-level employees. Therefore, they show lenience to the members and may try every means to reduce hours worked for a guaranteed amount of regular payment. This financial motivation without concern for the productivity derives from the support of the collective voice of employees that affects the profitability of the HRM. Unfair ethical definitions formed among the unionized employees also pose serious challenges to the human resources management in an organization. In such a context, unskilled and less enthusiastic workers can also claim pay and protection equal with highly efficient employees while leaving the management in a state where it cannot take disciplinary actions against employees based on their performance disparities. The monopolistic voice emphasized by some unions hinders the managerial process at the level of implementation of new policies. Powerful presence of a labor union always poses a challenge to the HRM by interfering in functional areas of decision-making regarding wages, layoffs, compensations, pensions, insurance etc. In some countries, the union forces are strong enough to approve or decline the recruitment of a new employee. Sometimes the impacts of a labor union in the establishment can have a far reaching effect as it is capable of calling for a strike on the displeasure of any policy changes implemented by the human resources management. Considering the potential influence and impacts of their immediate actions, the human resources management has to take careful steps to effectively manage the unions. Conclusion Overall, the existence of a labor union in an organization is equally important to both the management and the employees if it is properly motivated and controlled. As from one side it serves as a mechanism for saving time and effort of the management in effective communication for collective control and guidance, from the other side it guarantees and protects the rights of employees. The responsibility of the human resource management is, therefore, to ensure a comfortable atmosphere in the organization both for the owners of the business and for the employees. Hence the management has to design plans for implementation with logical and timely consultation with union leaders, who are influential to the cadre of workers and all other members belonging to the labor union operating in the organization. References Addison, J. T & Schnabel, C. (2003). International Handbook of Trade Unions. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Duening, T. N & Ivancevich, J. M. (2003). Management Principles & Guidelines. New Delhi: Dreamtech Press. Masayuki, M. (2009). Labor unions, human resource management, and productivity. RIETI: Research Institute of Economy, Trade & Industry, IAA, Retrieved from http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/columns/a01_0270.html Murillo, M. V. (2001). Labor Unions, Partisan Coalition and Market Reform in Latin America. New York: Cambridge University Press. Verma, A. (2005). What do unions do to the workplace?: Unions impact on management and HRM policies. Journal of Labor Research, 1-48. Retrieved from http://wall.oise.utoronto.ca/resources/Verma.UnionImpactOnHRM.JLR2005.pdf Read More