Trade Unions as One of the Challenges That Human Resource Management Faces - Term Paper Example

The paper "Trade Unions as One of the Challenges That Human Resource Management Faces" is a good example of a term paper on human resources. Employees of Royal Mail have voted to go on a twenty-four-hour strike on the fourth of November, reports the Communication Workers Union (CWU). This would be the first national strike at the UK postal service operator in about four years of BBC News (2013).  According to the story on BBC News on October 16, 2013, the strike is meant to leverage workers' terms and conditions at the privatized corporation. Royal Mail gave free shares to its staff in an effort to improve labor relations, but the employees are protesting, stating that they are more concerned about their job security, pay, and pensions than they care about shares.

Relevancy to HR Profession

 The strike is a very strong weapon that trade unions and other labor unions use to articulate their issues and get their demands accepted. It generally entails workers donning their tools in order to bring pressure on their employers to address their grievances (Gilmore & Williams, 2012). Trade unions are one of the challenges that human resource management (HRM) faces. They can be very harsh when it comes to negotiating for employees. This has an effect on human resource professionals because human resource managers are tasked with providing a good and conducive work environment for workers, a key success for any organization. This challenge is critical because it can hinder the success and development of the human resource.  This challenge must be avoided or dealt with appropriately for human resource management to succeed. In a unionized work surrounding, it is vital that labor unions and human resource management work jointly to uphold an engaged and productive workforce (Gilmore & Williams, 2012).