The History of Trade Unions - Research Paper Example

Introduction: Trade unions were and to this date are a basic means of communicating the needs of the lowest levels of labor to the top management, the formation of such a coalition gives strength to the usually weak populace of the factory world, it is based on the clichéd statement ‘united we stand, divided we fall’. This was a much needed forum for the labor force because when the world started to shift from agrarian to the factory and industrial culture, labor rights were lost some where in the transition, but this was not where the formation of trade unions started, the fact is that trade unions existed in a modified shape even earlier and they would be explained in much more detail in due course of this paper. These unions gave a voice to the usually scattered laborers and spoke of their rights for the very first time, starting in the mid of 1800’s and this has been the case ever since, trade unions ever since then have been a way of life and though their roles were diminished in the 1990’s but they have been gaining much more support now and are almost back to the traditional role they performed. The reason for the down fall of these trade unions midway through the 90’s was that they failed to align them selves with the change in the general business environment, this was the time when technical skills required among the laborers were most required and perhaps this was the time when they were required the most but the issue that kept them from playing a pivotal role in the changing environment was that large organizations and industries had some how found a way to tackle these organizations through awareness amongst the employees and general strategy and policies were designed in such a way that the role of these organizations was made minimal and hence they started loosing their power. It is worth while to mention here that these unions were also used in a positive way by some organizations and there is a usual negative feeling associated with the very name of a trade union but we all have to face the that just like individuals there are different unions with different characteristics and hence the generalization that all trade unions are bad has not been a very smart idea. Slowly and gradually their role has been revived due to increasing role of technology and this has been a major threat to the laborers because it is now quite evident that the threat of completely technical workplaces is becoming a reality really fast and hence laborers again are looking to these bodies to unite and voice their opinion and fear and also to make sure that the higher authorities know that they are united and will take action if and when needed. Given this brief contemporary history, a detailed history of the reason of their formation and also a detail of the work they perform are given below. Formation: There is a general misconception that trade unions were a by product of the world turning from an agrarian to an industrialized world but unfortunately it is just that, a misconception, trade unions existed in one form or the other before being actually recognized as trade unions they existed in the form of medieval craftsman guilds. These guilds were basically formed to control the flow of craftsman into a particular field because craftsman were only valued as long as they were limited in number and hence if these guilds would not have been controlled the entry of people the trade would have been virtually barrier less and this would have pushed the value of this trade, in a very similar fashion trade unions also have the right to deny or grant any one admission although in trade unions the strength of a union is usually associated with the number of people associated with it. Effectively speaking the craftsman were controlling the market and same is the case with modern day trade unions where they try to determine who works for who and when and if possible when not to work for some one, thus practically they control the labor force in their own respective industrial fields. This control vests the power to bargain for the price and in the case of modern day laborers the power to bargain for wage rates and certain benefits. These similarities indicate the strong degree to which guilds operated in the same way as the trade unions and this is where the humble beginnings of a very strong force began but these are not the only similarities, as these craftsmen expanded business, the role of these guilds also changed to a great degree and it was now more used to control people under them rather than stopping people from entering the field. As these craftsman expanded their business they hired people and hence they started to give certain benefits to people associated with these guilds, this is where the roots for organized massive strikes started taking shape because when these guilds did not provide sufficient funds to people working under them they started retaliating by organizing strikes and back then these were known as ‘combinations’. When these combinations started being effective there were laws made to curb the activities of these combinations, there is a very thin line between being exploited and exploitative and crossing this line is what these combinations were guilty of, when exploited they retaliated and while retaliating they became exploitative of the higher authorities and hence it was deemed extremely necessary that there should be laws to curb the activities of any such combinations. These laws were repealed in 1824 and new laws were made which only allowed these combinations to take place for only changes made in working hours and monetary matters. Towards the 1840’s trade unions were both looked upon as a menace by the state and the employers and there were several laws made which gave a lot of power to the employers even to the point of being exploitative of rights of the employees. During the 1850’s railways became much better and hence communications networks were established which led to even larger trade unions and even trade unions on council basis with the basic target of protecting all those associated with the union. During this period the unions slowly but surely kept evolving and the most golden era of the trade unions began from the 1950’s onwards when the post war boom began and the trade unions leaped on the opportunity to push for full employment and increasing wages and hence this was a period marked with a lot of strikes. This period also showed that people with in the trade unions were not that effective because the meetings of most of the trade unions were poorly attended and those who attended it usually took over, usually not in the best interest of the masses. Trade unions exist to this day because people look at them as shelters, a means of power, a gathering of people who would fight for the rights of each other and there is no such feeling as belonging to such an extended family where ones interest over laps with the interests of others. More over trade unions still have power, they are still effective and this has been quite effective, some of the better ones have still been able to dictate terms but as quoted earlier, there is a thin line between being exploited and being exploitative and good unions know when not to cross over. Trade unions to this day have the power of pushing for full employment, to stop the downsizing of any facility because it leads to an increase in unemployment and also it caters to the needs of the unemployed in the absence of government support. References: 1. Phillip Lewis. (2007) Employee Relations. Pearsons Educations 2. PELLING, H. (1992) A history of British trade unionism. 5th ed. London: Macmillan. 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