Labor Unions and Human Resources - Coursework Example

The paper "Labor Unions and Human Resources" is an excellent example of an essay on human resources. Countries have trade unions formed depending on the industrial demands of workers and the treatment they receive from their employers. The unions in the world have two most distinguished goals to achieve. The goals include enhancing debates between employees and employers concerning better terms of remuneration. Unions contribute a vital role in ensuring workers receive fair employment conditions related to working hours and workplace conditions. Countries, however, have distinctions in the manner in which they conduct their roles. The differences are evident in the case of Japan, Sweden, and America.

How Role of Unions in Other Countries Differ From That of America
Unions in Japan and the USA engage in roles related to negotiations on wage-related matters. However, Swedish unions also focus on improving the general working environment as well as strengthening both economic and industrial democracy. In addition, American unions are synonymous with strikes as strategies to advocate their members’ demands (Marsden, 2013). On the contrary, Swedish unions are highly democratic and often engage in negotiations rather than strikes to resolve industrial conflicts. Unions in Japan, however, explore industrial federations and management negotiations after effective consultations involving firms across the industry to resolve their industrial conflicts.
Workers and industry stakeholders show dissimilar reactions when unions use collective bargaining to settle industrial disputes in Japan, Sweden, and the USA. Both in Japan and Sweden, workers and stakeholders embrace industrial peace, consequently disrupting any possibility of conflict and violence. Workers and union members in America, however, are characteristic of violent reactions through strikes in cases of outcomes that they perceived as unsatisfactory.
Unlike in America where unions never show concerns about industrial management, Sweden is a Scandinavian country in which unions have close industrials relations. Japan also shows a clear distinction with the US-based unions such that the Japanese unions are enterprise-based. Sweden, nonetheless, displays another difference since its unions have three categories as per their roles. The first is the Central Organization of Salaried Employees (TCO), which is specifically responsible for bringing together employees from white-collar jobs (Katz, 2013). Sweden confederation of trade unions advocates the welfare of blue-collar job employees and clerical workers found in both private and public sectors.
Swedish unions conduct collective bargaining for their workers at a highly centralized level unlike those of the USA that operates at the federation level. However, due to technological changes, unions' Swedish unions have ventured into a vigorous process of decentralizing its unions. In conclusion, despite the differences that exist in various countries, the goals they strive to achieve are more or less similar. Read More