Employee Relations in Context: A Trade Union or Labour Union - Essay Example

Employee Relations in Context Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Theories of employee relations 4 Impact of local, national and global contexts 7 Roles and functions of different groups in employment relationship 10 Conclusion 13 References 15 Introduction A trade union or labour union is a well structured organization of workers who are together in order to achieve some common goals. They are responsible for protecting trade integrity, gaining benefits and higher pay in terms of health care and retirement policies. It even encompasses increasing the number of employees assigned for a task by an employer and even takes care about safety standards to enhance working conditions. The trade union deals with employer using their leadership bargain strategy so as to negotiate on labour contracts. It can be stated that the common purpose of such trade unions is to improve and maintain their respective employment conditions. To be more precious, this body has certain duties or responsibilities like wage negotiation, work rules, rules that govern hiring process, complaint procedures, promotion and firing of workers, workplace policies and safety mechanism, and other benefits. Unions might aim to organize a particular category of skilled workers or even form cross-section of workers belonging to different trades. Trade union comprises of a particular constitution that governs their bargaining unit and even has governance at different levels. This form of governance is highly dependent on a specific industry which binds their functioning as well as negotiation activities. In this particular study the concept of trade unions will be analyzed along with its losing relevance in the modern world. The term modern world encompasses various elements such as changing industrial conditions in the post war period. On the other hand, relevance can be described through theoretical frameworks stating functioning of trade unions across the globe. The impact of global, national and local conditions on employee relations will also be thoroughly analyzed in order to outline trade unions’ lost relevance. This study will not only deal with political view on trade unions but even reflect upon its contributions during human right violations. Discussion Theories of employee relations As per Thomas (2005), the employee relation can be classified as a set of interactions and functional activities that manifest through effective interactions between employees and managers. These interactions are responsible for facilitating high performance in the workplace. On the other hand, collaborative interactions even help in preventing any form of workplace conflict. Employment relationship can even be related to negotiation procedures and dispute settlement activities in the workplace. It even helps to determine the formal regulations and rules, informal practices and customs that govern employee relationship. Workplace authority has shifted in the present scenario in comparison to earlier times. Shift to contract from status modes of legitimating is required to take into consideration certain elements which affect employee relations. Firstly it is needed to understand well why individuals belonging to modern capitalist organizations are willing to accept authoritative power of other individuals. The second thing which is a matter of concern in modern organizations is the complexity of influences in the workplace. There are certain theoretical frameworks describing employee relations in workplace. Unitarism begins from a set of values and assumptions that holds on different kind of workplace conflict. As per this approach conflict amongst team members are natural since they posses different set of views and opinions. However this form of conflict results into coordination amongst team members in the end but this cannot be considered as correct in modern world (Thomas, 2005). According to Blyton and Turnbull (2004), in unitarism approach organization is usually promoted on the basis of single source of authority and the other diverse authority present in workplace is eliminated from the system. Scientific management theory states that employee relations need to be based on certain assumptions such as workers are immature in the starting phase of their working conditions and they possess limited time horizons and self-centred aspirations. This theory even highlights management to be solely responsible for implementing rational leadership and should have a clear understanding regarding the jobs to be performed by team members. Firms incorporating this form of management practice in the system would reduce overall work into basic elements so as to ensure workers utilize minimum skills to perform their respective tasks. Employees need to be treated collectively and impersonally, and workplace issues should be referred to management (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004). As stated by Legge (2006), human relations theory reflects organizational tension reduction to rest on individual’s ability in order to gain self fulfilment in an organization. This form of managerial approach indicates reduction of internal tension by developing workplace satisfaction through techniques of work regulation. It can be stated that internal tension tends to reduce workplace productivity and appropriate managerial decisions facilitate higher productivity. On the other hand, this approach even states that employees have the right to put across their complaints and even give opinion regarding the management. This in turn enhances collaborative workplace environment and reduces the need for any kind of trade union. However such managerial theories are often not witnessed in real time scenarios simply because different situations demand for specific employer actions. Stakeholder perspective can even be utilized to analyze the impact of trade union on other organizational members such as employers, shareholders, team members, etc. The systems theory on employee relation describes industrial relations as sub-systems of larger social systems. It encompasses wide set of formal and informal rules like recruitment, wages, hours, performance and other critical details related to employment. These factors mainly determine the environmental conditions in which industrial actors perform whereas other form of influences results into negotiation activities and conflict resolution. Marxism is another approach in employee relations and it highlights the decline of radical thinking from the system. As per this approach inequality in an organization or in society is caused due to unequal distribution of wealth. Labour process theory is a well known theoretical framework belonging to Marxism approach. According to this concept economic condition is a primary assumption which pertains to economic organization’s capitalist mode being inherently exploitative. This theory argues that primary management’s role is to transform raw materials into different set of products by utilizing machinery and labour. The only procedure through which management is able to do so is by establishing different structure of control and power. This in turn helps to convert employee’s capacities into actual work and this result into profitable production. In this approach capability of managers are well described and it outlines the need to possess effective managerial principles to avoid any form of conflict in the system. The different approaches are centred towards analyzing the different mechanisms on basis of which effective employer and employee relations are established. On the contrary, failure to meet individual interests result into conflicting thoughts and opinions. Trade unions are usually formed to deliver basic human rights and eliminate any form of injustice taking place in an organization (Legge, 2006). However all these basic concepts related to employee relations does not take into consideration changing business environmental conditions. For instance, trade union operated in a different dimension few years back but in the modern world various fluctuating conditions has brought forth significant changes in functioning of union. Impact of local, national and global contexts Trade unions have lost their significance to a great extent in 21st century. In earlier days, social organizations were not able to compete with any activities of trade unions. It was observed that in those days employees joined trade unions so as to avail their desirable wages and other benefits. Trade unions appeared as a body for providing social insurance and this mainly attracted employees not becoming a part of agile advocacy organization. Old unions were not structured in an appropriate fashion and were more of decentralized in nature. Company union was regarded as the initial phase of union and workers had to join the body as soon their job tenure began (IER, 2013). The scenario has shifted in the current decade in some countries such as company unions are now a legal autonomous entity and even on autonomous basis can join any super-ordinate organization. However in the modern world in some transition countries, trade union organizations are greatly subjected to shortage of funds. This has resulted into excessive pressure on trade union in terms of managing their conflicting interests (Gennard and Judge, 2002). The growing democracies have reframed the structure of trade unions and they are now called upon to perform different set of tasks or duties. Relevance factor can be analyzed not only from declining trend of trade union perspective but even from changing business environment conditions. In present scenario they no longer serve as an executing authority but are highly responsible for developing suggestions or coming across with innovative ideas for overall growth of employees as well as organization (International Trade Union Confederation, 2014). Today trade unions are majorly political organizations but in earlier times they used to more effective on societal level. Trade unions adopt the best strategies so as to avoid any form of workplace conflicts beforehand. In some countries, the decreasing relevance of trade union is due to presence of collaborative workplace environment. Employer tends to develop mutual benefit policies which reduce the need for a trade union (Rose, 2008). On the contrary, in the highly competitive environment team members are more inclined towards utilizing their creative skills and achieving desirable targets rather than taking active participation in any union. The employee base for most companies is decreasing since management believes in controlling overhead costs through outsourcing activities (Nicholls, 2005). Large-scale production companies usually comprised of trade union but the working structures has changed in the modern world as large scale firms are now becoming small independent companies. Over the years the global and national employee relationship has changed a lot. Organizations across the world have given significant focuses towards the employee welfare and employee safety. That is why the influence of trade unions in the global context has changed a lot. It has been observed that if employee relationship is suitable and harmonious then the requirements of trade unions are less but if employee relationship is not positive then the scope of trade union interferences are high. Figure 1: Impact of recent recession on workplace adversity (Source: Wanrooy, Bewley, Bryson, Forth, Freeth, Stokes and Wood, 2013) The above picture is indicating that during the period of recession workplace adversity were increased significantly across all the sectors. It means during that period of time modern world has faced significant lowering trends in the employment relationship. It indicates that during the adverse situations of employment relationship trade unions are highly important for safeguarding interests of the employees. Employees are the nerve centres and centrifugal forces of the organizations. That is why employee relationship plays an important role. It has been noticed that various incidents and global economic conditions have significant impacts on the employee relationship. In modern world one trend of cheap labour has come into the picture where organizations across the world seek for low cost labours in the various Asian countries like India and China. This new trend has significant impacts on the employee relationship. Employees of the developed world often consider that their employments are getting snatched away by the other people. Over the years this kind of consideration has provided lots of opportunities to the global trade unions to showcase their relevance. But in the last one or two decade’s organizations across the world have become more employees oriented. In the modern world gaps between employees and the organizations has reduced a lot but the gap has not reduced totally. Needs and demands of the employees are significant deciding factors on the basis of which employee relationship is adjusted. In the global context it has been observed that there are still enough incidents where employee relationships are not given enough priorities (Badigannavar and Kelly, 2005). Under those contexts relevance of trade unions cannot be ignored totally. But one thing is clear that current trend of employee relationship have limited the relevance of the trade unions but it cannot be denied totally. The modern world has become much more interrelated where organizations from various countries are trying to come up with a standardize form of employee relationship. This endeavour has certainly reduced the scope of trade unions but has not been able to eliminate this factor comprehensively. Roles and functions of different groups in employment relationship Employment relationship is a legal connection between the employers and employees across the world. This relationship is highly important for the purpose of the organizational productivity and efficiency. In the context of employment relationship contribution of different groups are there. All those groups are utterly vital for the sake of employment relationship. Employment relationship is generally being present when employees perform their duties under some predefined conditions and for that reason they get remunerations (Badigannavar and Kelly, 2012). Trade unions are the organizations of workers who come together to achieve their common goals. They play significant roles for the employment relationship. Their functions are to act as the mediator between the employer and employees. That means trade unions play important roles in the context of employment relationship. Employment relationship is a bidirectional structural way through which in last few years the gap between employee and employer has reduced a lot. The role of HR people has immerged significantly in the global context. This functional department has substituted the requirement of the global trade unions up to high level. Previously trade unions were the only options for the employees across the world to show their grievances. But the scenario has been changed. Functions of the global trade unions have become more limited in nature. It has been observed that organizations across the world have given significant focuses towards strengthening the positions and functionalities of the HR people. It has been a deliberate attempt from the side of the organizations. With the ever-increasing clarity in the context of employment relationship, functions of HR people have become more and more structured. This structural nature of the HR functionality has increased its relevance (Dundon and Rollinson, 2011). Currently any kind of disputes related with the employment relationships are being handled by the legal or HR departments of the organizations. That means, in this aspect also relevancy of the trade unions have reduced significantly (Frege and Kelly, 2004). But there are lots of examples where trade unions play important roles for the employees and the common people associated with the organizations. Recently ITUC has raised their voices against Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. This deal may be good for the organizational point of view because with the help of this deal big corporations can earn high amount of profitability but certainly public interests can be compromised. It means in this context the trade union is acting as a whistle blower and asking government against the negotiation. This incident is indicating relevance of the trade union. Employment relationship is an important subject. It creates a sense of rights and obligations between the employers and employees. Employment relationship talks about labour laws and their social securities. All these factors are significantly important for managing suitable employment relationship. In this context previously trade unions were highly effective and they play important roles for the employees. But currently trends have been shifted from trade unions to other external authorities. Figure 1: Sources of external advice (Source: Wanrooy, Bewley, Bryson, Forth, Freeth, Stokes and Wood, 2013) The above picture is indicating that, over the years various external authorities have been involved in the employment relationship management. That means roles and responsibilities of trade unions have been replaced up to great level by the other external sources. From the above picture one thing is clear that in 2004 external advice was low in comparison to the 2011. It is articulating one fact that, relevancy of the trade unions is going down and relevancy of the other authorities is increasing. But one thing is clear from the figure that the growths of the other authorities in the seven years have not increased significantly (Aswathappa, 2005). It is a very slow growth. That means relevancy of the trade unions have not been eliminated totally. Previous in the context of employment relationship there was only one advisory source i.e. trade unions but under the current context the influences and relevancy of that advisory source has been reduced. Relevancies of the trade unions are not that much inevitable what it was previously. Roles and responsibilities of the various other external advisory sources in the context of employment are very specific and refined in nature. Their specific and refined services have come up with lots of wonderful and amicable settlements in the context of employment relationship (Frege and Kelly, 2013). But still there are lots of other cases where importance of the trade unions cannot be overlooked. Conclusion The modern world has changed significantly. With this changing world, employment relationship has changed significantly. Earlier trade unions were one of the most important decision making and influencing factors for the employment relationship. But with the changing dynamics of modern world this factor has lost some of its relevancy. During the course of this study one thing has been noticed that organizations across the world are trying to provide maximum possible benefits to the employees. This kind of employee orientation has reduced the scope of trade unions in organizations. But there are certain occasions or incidents are still there when trade unions play important roles and responsibilities. During the course of this essay one example of the 2008 recession has been given where all the sectors have registered high percentages of employee adversity. During that period of time safeguarding the interests of the employees indicates the relevance of the trade unions. During the course of this essay systems theory, labour process, scientific management theory and human relations theory have been used to understand of the employment relationship and its relationship with the trade unions. During the course of this essay relevancy of the trade unions in the context of modern world has been analyzed critically. That is why within this essay roles and functions of the different groups related with the employment relationship has been analyzed from the negative and positive perspectives. All the above analysis and findings are significantly reinforcing one fact that trade unions across the world have not lost their relevance totally. But certainly their influences have been curved. Various changing dynamics in the local, national and global context have shaped the employee relation in different ways. This changed outlook of the employee relationship has reduced the scope of trade unions considerably but has not been able to eliminate its relevancy totally. References Aswathappa, K., 2005. Human resource and personnel management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Badigannavar, V. and Kelly, J., 2005. ‘Why are some union organizing campaigns more successful than others?’ British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 43(3): pp.515-535. Badigannavar, V. and Kelly, J., 2012. Do labour laws protect labour in India? Union experiences of workplace employment regulations in Maharashtra, India. Industrial Law Journal, 49 (4): pp. 439-470. Blyton, P., and Turnbull, P., 2004. The dynamics of employee relations. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Dundon, T. and Rollinson, D., 2011. Understanding employment relations’ 2nd edition. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill. Frege, C. and Kelly, J., 2004. Varieties of unionism – Strategies of union revitalization in a globalizing economy. London: Oxford University Press. 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