Unions and the Human Resources Department: Information and Trends - Research Paper Example

 Unions and the Human Resources Department: Information and Trends Introduction: Compared to personnel management, human resource management is relatively a new approach to manage people. Since human resource is the most valuable asset of an organization without which it could not possibly be able to use any other resources and run the business. So it becomes quite necessary to manage the human resources efficiently and effectively. It paves the way for the development of human resources management. Human resources management is a distinct management philosophy which emerged as a perspective to manage the human resources in an effective manner for the benefit of an organization. Last decade it had witnessed a great exploitation towards the employees in terms of the working hours, payment, and working condition which in turn resulted to the development of their representative group as an employee’s union. As per the article ‘The role of Unions or HR in workplace’ “Unions have been in existence since 1935” (Morreaux, 2013, par.4) when the national labor relation law was passed, which was the first labor relation law. Employee unions were primarily formed for the purpose of representing the employment problem before the management and engaged in “collective bargaining” (Morreaux, 2013, par.3) with the employers in order to protect the worker’s interest and prevent it against exploitation. The prime purpose and the most attractive feature of an employee union is the collective bargaining power. As per the article ‘The Role of Unions or HR in Workplace’, collective bargaining is rightly been quoted as “negotiation process” (Morreaux, 2013, par.3) between the representative of management or human resource department with the union representative in the area of matter concerning to the collective interests of the employee’s. Collective bargaining prevents the organization from taking decisions which are against the interest of the working class. As per the article, Morreaux stated that the unionized business is under the model of human resource department “won’t have direct contact with employee” (Morreaux, 2013, par.3) It is so because unions negotiate employment term “for prospective and current employee” and unions are presented “during the process of termination” (Morreaux, 2013, par.3) also. In unionized organization which uses “collective action” (Morreaux, 2013, par.3) to advance its members interest in the area of payment and working condition. In the case of termination union eliminate the HR department’s” power of quick termination” (Morreaux, 2013, par.3) by the collective bargaining agreement. By negotiation, unions create some procedure and discipline in the organization. Some of its provisions include in “advance notification”, an opportunity for the employee to meet his “union’s representative” prior to the meeting and allowing the union representative “to attend the meeting and appeal to the process” (Morreaux, 2013, par.3) An employee union forces the HR department to implement the current law and communicate the same in the organization which bring a good atmosphere in the organization Benefit of Unionization As per the article of FSA, Unionization proved to be beneficial to the employer and economy in a number of key area of the business which includes, “Productivity, Competitiveness, Product or service delivery and quality, Training, Turnover, Solvency of the firm, Workplace health and safety, and Economic development” (Union are Good for Business, Productivity and the Economy, 2008, par.3). Unionized organization is proved to be “more productive” (Doucouliagos & Laroche, 2003) than a non-unionized firm. As per Christos Doucouliagos’s article, by Meta analysis he established a positive relation between unionization and productivity. FAS review substantiates the article with example of 22 manufacturing industry’s productivity analysis in the United States. Another key benefit of unionization is competitiveness. Unionization “promotes healthy communication” (Union are Good for Business, Productivity and the Economy, 2008, par.3) within the organization helps the workers to improve their condition by mutual discussion and it works well with the company. By achieving competitiveness they could possibly be able to produce or deliver more qualified products or services. In the case of turnover, if it proved to be a less turnover among the union workers. It makes the employer more “likely to offer training”. (Union are Good for Business, Productivity and the Economy, 2008, par.3). Collective bargaining agreement is that which necessitates training for under skilled labor and finally reverses the edge by its collective bargaining unions and also it provides training for its members to improve their work performance. Unionization helps to increase the intensity of training and turnover in a unionized organization. It also helps to invite healthy and safety environment by “avoiding stress and job hazards” among its members. According to Richard B Freeman’s article, ‘Do Union make Enterprises Insolvent?’ union will not lead any organization out of the industry or cause business failure “as far as it pay union member’s wage ,benefit or working condition above their next best alternative” (Freeman & Kleiner,1999). He argued that a high level of unionization has a positive impact over the business and he quotes the line “Union does not destroy the goose that lays golden eggs” (Freeman & Kleiner, 1999). The activity of union and its relative programs and celebrations also have a great impact in the economic development of the members and of unionized organization. Union and Human Resource Department, New Trends In recent years “unionism has been declined” (Machin & Wood, 2005, p. 201) in many countries. It is especially in UK &US that over the past years. More specifically the decline in Unionism is due to the increased use of “human relation practice” (Machin & Wood, 2005, p. 201) and new form of work organization”. They are usually subsumed as “human resource management” (Machin & Wood, 2005, p. 201) the newly emerged” win-win relationship” (Machin & Wood, 2005, p. 201) between worker and manager dramatically changes the organization’s climate in different way. The worker’s focus is being changed from pay and benefit to satisfaction and security in return for their improved performance. The modern Human resource management approach has given its due importance to the “employee satisfaction” (Machin & Wood, 2005, p. 201) and employees might reduce the demand for unionism. The argument is that union may become needless choice for the working environment. New industrial policy and attitudes of the organization have made the working environment smoother and friendly, which in turn took away the importance of unionization. Conclusion: Employee unions have a long history of influence in the organizational and social setup. Union brings a radical change in the organization and its attitude towards an employee. Union is being used as an organizational establishment and it has played a crucial role in the society also. The activities and programs of union had a great significance in the growth and development of an individual employee and business in itself. In today’s business environment, an effective and efficient human resource management practice reduces the importance of union in the organization’s establishment. So it needs to be reformed in a hopeful way. In America, public employees are being forced by the union to contribute in union’s “political funding” (William, 2012) by writing an annual consent and by analyzing the situation, it is clear that most of the people are fed up of the political lobbing. In order to survive it’s functioning it needs to be reformed. The first reform a governmental union should incorporate is giving the “right for the member to join unions” (William, 2012). Also, ending the state and local governmental policy of “collecting union fund” for the benefits of a special interest group and include more transparency in the activity of union (William, 2012). Lastly, a union should hold re-election in order to replace the union leadership if the members are feeling dissatisfied and discontent with the union. Reference List Doucouliagos, C. & Laroche, P. (2003). Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society. WILEY. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-232X.00310/full Freeman, R.F & Kleiner, M.M. (1999). Do Union Make Enterprises Insolven ?. Industrial and Labor Relation Review. Print. Morreaux, A. L. (2013). The Role of Unions or HR in the Workplace. CHRON. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/roles-unions-hr-workplace-19066.html Machin, S. & Wood, S. (2005). Human Resources Management as a Substitute for Trade Unions in British Workplaces. Cornell University. Retrieved from http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/16955/1/16955.pdf Union are Good for Business, Productivity and the Economy. (2008). Union Review.com. Retrieved from http://unionreview.com/unions-are-good-business,-productivity-and-economy William, B. (2012). Reforming Unions. Huff Post Business. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-williams/reforming-unions_b_1600499.html Read More