Labor Rights Issues - Essay Example

1. Labour Rights: “The right to organize free from interference, the right to bargain collectively and to be bargained with in good faith, and the right to strike without putting one’s job in jeopardy are fundamental human rights that override other political and economic considerations” is a statement that I feel could take either sides of the argument. As such, I would take a neutral ground with regards to the statement as each person is entitled to individual rights. However, arguing that all these rights take precedence over economic and political considerations would be a mistaken assumption. Indeed, every person is entitled to freedom of speech, but this should not make such rights take precedence over economic and political concerns. In the modern world, there is respect for Charter of Rights and Freedoms but does not give a pass to equal rights for people from different races, religion, colour, sexuality and the likes. Even so, not everyone adheres to these guidelines; rampant discrimination continues in private. People get different treatments based on their appearances and sexuality, with bosses hiring based on the looks and beliefs of the prospective employees. This does not mean that it would always be the case, but that the prejudice is rife in the modern world. The rights of individuals would be put behind their backs because in spite of acceptance of such rights, seniors in the workplaces determine how such rights are reinforced in the organisation. Even so, these rights are determinate and are well stipulated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and thus critical for consideration. All the rights listed in the statement are basic to every employee: 1. The right to organise free from interference refers to the right given to every worker to undertake their tasks without meddling from any quarters. This is a significant right to all workers as it fosters their productivity and promotes a healthy workplace environment. 2. The other right is the right to bargain collectively and to be bargained with in good faith. This right to collective negotiations is a useful tool when seeking for mutual agreements. It is a crucial right in promoting participation thus allowing an organisation to benefit from the diverse views of the different members. Participation allows people to adjust accordingly and adapt to issues they would previously not be comfortable with. Contribution from different people to an idea and the subsequent infusion makes people own a proposal, an important outcome for collective bargaining. 3. Finally, there is the right to strike without putting one’s job in jeopardy. This right allows workers to fight for their wants without putting their jobs on the line. Thus, workers should be allowed to voice their concerns without being victimised. This could be undertaken through a strike, thus the importance of this right. The critical part in the statement is the consideration of the other rights as overriding economic and political considerations. Whereas the enlisted rights are essential to all humans, the different classes in the society together with the existence of specific representations sets some people above others politically and economically. The rights are important in a workplace setting but only manage to hold for a while in the society at large. 2. Negotiations: “Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement” is a terminology that refers to the course of action that a party undertakes in a negotiation when talks fail and an agreement becomes elusive. Simply abbreviated as BATNA, this terminology was developed by Roger Fisher and his fellow researcher, William Ury. The two researchers gave a process with three steps in demanding for a BATNA. The first step involves the development of the actions to be undertaken in case no agreement is found. This would be followed by the conversion of more promising indications into practical options. Finally, the option deemed to best fit the situation would be tentatively selected. BATNA is a fall back plan for parties in case a negotiation ends up being unsuccessful. It could be developed for any given situation that calls for some form of negotiations including pay negotiations and resolution of complex conflicts. It is normally not easy to identify BATNAs. BATNA is crucial for bargaining as it provides external and internal leverage. Its support to people allows for the engagement of members in negotiations. A successful negotiator considers it as a critical component because under normal circumstances, a bargaining committee should accept the BATNA as the worst resolution. For accurate valuation of deals, all considerations should be taken into account including time value of money, relationship value and the probability that the other party would consider their end of the bargain. Thus, it would be difficult to judge all the other considerations bearing in mind that the values borrow from qualitative or uncertain considerations and are not factors that could be easily measured or quantified. For a negotiation to be considered successful, the goals of the party of reference have to have been met. Additionally, the party should be able to determine the settlement in the negotiation with the other party and look for a pattern or consistency. Together, these advances goodwill and improves on relationships. A strong BATNA would positively influence negotiations towards success. It gives the benchmark against which the minimum acceptable offer would be set in the negotiations and ensure that the negotiator gets what is being sought for. There are two critical areas that need keen attention for development when looking for BATNA options. The first is the internal. Garnering internal support is a crucial source for BATNA. This implies the need for concentrated effort in the formation of internal alliances to undertake joint bargaining strategies, research and education. As indicated in the book, The Collective Bargaining Handbook, BATNA page 11 by McArthur, there is need to form a natural communication network, this being a point from which one should leverage on. The second area is the external, which comprises of economic, social and political options. Among the social options considered include development of assistance pacts and mutual aid with external agencies and groups which share in the same values. Political influences encompass political parties or other types of associate organisations. These groups provide immense leverage at the bargaining table, thus very useful. There is need to develop economic options to the maximum best. Apart from strike sanctions, there exists many other economic options that could be developed and that could significantly affect the ability of a company to undertake its operations (McArthur, The Collective Bargaining Handbook, BATNA pg.11). 3. Mobilizing: The mobilisation of workers normally takes place before the bargaining process commences. The organising union should prove its organisational capacity to run a strike. The workers belonging to the union should see value in the collective action so as to undertake the necessary preparations for industrial action. With this regard, it would be appreciated that justice affects the attitudes of workers. Their perception of the treatment that they receive significantly affects their willingness to be involved in the strike. Should one receive undesirable treatment from fellow workers, it becomes difficult for such a person to get involved in an industrial action whenever an issue arises because of the negative perception acquired towards the other workers. In a workplace setting, justice could be distributive or procedural. While distributive justice entails the perception of how fair pay and benefits are, procedural justice focuses on the procedures followed by employers in decision making. Also critical in mobilisation is effective representation. Should a worker see that the union has an effective representation in the workplace, then, such a worker would be more willing to participate in a strike. At this point, union leadership plays a crucial role. A strong leadership as perceived by workers would arouse great support from the workers should the union call for industrial action. Strong leadership is a product of responsiveness to concerns of members, proper development of stewardship systems and accessibility to members. Solidarity has also been noted to be important in industrial action. It positively influences workers to participate in the industrial action, considering the unity of the union. With a strike being a collective action, any given bargaining unit, including union leaders, should undertake a deliberate action to make the strike strong and impactful through fostering solidarity. Such solidarity should be felt among the members that are striking; between those members that are striking and those that are not; between the members that are striking and the labour movement; between the members that are striking and the service providers; and between the members that are striking and the community in general. Considering the mobilisation case study for the nurses’ union, the members observed that from a local perspective, the mobilisation would provide effective leadership for the organisation of a campaign to help them out with their case. Thus, they used press releases to announce their campaigns with advertisements in newspapers articulating the critical issues they seek to address. They also distributed leaflets in public hospitals to convey their plans. These actions enabled the nurses to experience effective leadership, thus an appropriate example of mobilisation inspiring the feelings and attitudes of workers towards participating in industrial action. Furthermore, the union inspired the attitudes of the workers to mobilise them for the strike by arousing the sentiments through media that their interests differed from that of their employers. This difference was vividly brought out leading to the industrial action, starting with picketing then a strike vote. Important to note is that whether members are forced to participate in a strike action, thrown out of work or forced work legislatively, their participation in the preparation of a strike and ultimately in the strike itself shows their unity in solidarity with members supporting each other throughout the process. 4. Workplace Bullying: Read More