The Important Role of Trade Unions - Research Paper Example

Trade Unions refer to an organization of workers who unite for purposes of achieving a common goal. This common goal can be the protection of the integrity of its members, advocating for better payments and working conditions, and even increasing the workforce of an organization. The role of the trade Unions is to bargain with an employer, and this is on behalf of all the members of the Union. However, the most important role of these trade unions is to improve the working conditions of its members (Zhu, 2012). This normally includes enactment of humane work rules, better work place policies, and advocating for good remuneration and labor wages. There are three different organizations and types of trade unions, namely industrial unionism, general unionism, and craft unionism. Craft Unionism refers to a trade union that seeks to protect a particular group of skilled works. General Unionism on the other hand refers to an organization of trade unions that comprise of a variety of skilled workers (Somers, 2013). Industry Unionism on the other hand comprises of all workers within a particular industry, joined together in one organization. To successfully carry out their mission and objectives, Trade Unions have a constitution that governs the conduct of their leaders, and the actions of its members. This research proposal identifies the manner in which the researcher will gather information and carry out a research on the importance of trade unions and non-union employee representation bodies. Research Questions/ Problems: Most employers do not encourage their employees to join trade unions. This is because trade unions are always accused of creating a negative relationship between employees and their employers. However trade unions play an important role in protecting the interests and welfare of employees. On this note, this research takes the position that; Non-Union Representation bodies and Trade Unions play an important role in improving the working conditions of its members. In supporting this thesis, this research will answer the following six questions; Are trade organizations responsible for creating better relationship between employers and employees? What are the methods that trade unions use to advocate for an improvement on the working conditions of employees? Are these methods efficient in advocating for the cause of the trade union under consideration? Are the objectives of non-union representation body similar to that of the trade unions? Are they effective in advocating for the interests of their members? Is it proper for trade and non-union representation bodies to exist? Literature Review: Trade Unionism is an example of an organized movement that began during the 19th century in the United States, Great Britain, and continental Europe. In most of these countries of the world, Trade Unionism is used to define the term labor movement. During the 18th century, a number of small associations began to appear in Britain, however, most of these organizations were sporadic, and did not last for a period of time. This is because these small associations of workers got resentment from the government and employers of the workers under consideration. During this period of time, members of these associations were constantly prosecuted by authorities in United States and Britain (Baldwin, 2003). However, during the 20th century, these changed, and a number of countries embraced the concept of trade unionism and non-union representation. A number of scholars have written concerning this issue of trade unionism and non-union employees. Baldwin (2003) support the idea of the creation of trade unions. According to these scholars, trade unions play a great role in improving the working conditions of employees. They assert that trade unions play an important role in increasing the wages of employees (Baldwin, 2003). For example, scholars denote that employees who belong to trade unions normally earn more than 20% in comparison to what employees who do not belong to a trade union earn. Other notable advantages of belonging to a trade union includes protecting workers from unfair dismissals, standardizing the payment structures of their members for purposes of ensuring that a huge payment discrepancy does not occur between those earning higher incomes, with low income employees (Chavlesk and Risteski, 2013). In as much as trade unions play an important role in advancing the interests of employees, Chavlesk and Risteski (2013) their existence. According to Räthzel (2013), trade unions are responsible for creating disharmony between employers and employees. This is because some trade unions influence their members to stop working as a mechanism of articulating and advocating for their rights. An example is the 1978-1979 series of labor strikes that happened in the United Kingdom. This period is referred to as the Winter of Discontent. All most all sectors of the British economy were paralyzed by these strikes affecting the economic performance of the state. Phelan (2011) denote that because of this factor, trade unions should be banned, and their activities should not be tolerated. However, this opinion is not acceptable according to scholars. This is because he believes that Trade Unions will always resort to strikes and industrial actions after every means of negotiations have ended. Scholars denote that it is always the employers who are responsible for driving trade unions to declare industrial actions. This is because most employers are always reluctant to meet the various demands of trade unions, and non-union representation bodies (Chavlesk and Risteski, 2013). Take an instance when the Trade Union seeks to increase the labor wages of its employees by 20%. The immediate reaction by the employer is refusal to grant this increase. This is because increasing the labor wages of an organization might lead to a reduction of the organizations profitability. This is because wages normally amount to the operational costs of the organization, and most organizations usually seek to reduce their operational costs. On this basis, the most effective way of forcing an employer to increase the labor wages is to declare an industrial action. Donado and Wälde (2012) denote that in as much as belonging to a trade union is advantageous, there are a number of disadvantages that members of trade unions face. One such disadvantage is payment of Union fees. All trade unions require their members to pay union fees, for purposes of helping them run the affairs of the office. This is disadvantageous because some employees might not afford to pay such union fees. On this note, they will not belong to a trade union. Dray (2010) denotes that in as much as trade unions are unpopular with employers and employment agencies, there are a number of legal provisions that support the existence of trade unions. For example, in Britain, the activities of Trade Union are recognized and regulated by the 1871 Trade Union Act. In the United States of America, the 1933 National Labor Relations Law played a great role in improving trade unionism in the United States. These countries realized the need of protecting workers, and improving their living conditions. Heery, Williams and Abbott (2012) denote that countries which are democratic are always tolerant to the existence of trade unions; however, authoritarian regimes do not allow the existence of trade unions. Scholars give the example of countries such as Canada, Japan, Australia, Britain, United States, and Brazil as having an environment whereby Trade Unions thrive (Dray, 2010). These countries have one characteristic in common, that is they are democratic countries. This makes their leaders to be tolerant to criticisms, and accountable to their population. However, countries which are undemocratic do not have an environment whereby trade unions can thrive. This includes countries such as North Korea, where the state does not tolerate freedom of speech, and it ensures that its citizens do not have a mechanism of protesting against unpopular decisions (Ribarova, 2013). The leaders of these countries are not accountable to any institution or person, and hence they do not tolerate criticisms. From these arguments and counter arguments on the importance of trade unions and non-union representation bodies, this research therefore aims to find out whether trade unions are beneficial to employees. Research Methodology: There are always two methods in which researchers can use to gather and analyze data. These two methods of research are qualitative and quantitative methods of research/ data collection. Qualitative research is more subjective in nature, and it provides a description of the condition, or the problem in question. Qualitative research involves the use of texts, or words, and it does not require statistics. This is the major difference between qualitative research and quantitative research, whereby quantitative research involves the use of numbers and statistics during the process of gathering data (Zikmund, 2013). The major methods of carrying out quantitative research involve the use of focus group discussions, review of documents, surveys, and in-depth interviews. Quantitative research on the other hand mainly involves the use of numbers, for purposes of collecting and gathering data. It is a primary deductive process that is aimed at testing a pre-specified concept and hypotheses responsible for making up a theory. The methods used in carrying out quantitative research are, observations, review of documents and records, and structured interviews (Zikmund, 2013). This research will mostly depend on qualitative methodology of data collection. This research will mainly use library/ internet research, questionnaires, and interviews for purposes of collecting data. The reason for choosing this method of collecting data is because under qualitative research, the research can offer his opinions concerning an issue. The Internet and Library Research: The internet is an important tool for gathering information. This is because the internet consists of virtually all the information that pertains to trade unions, and non-union representative bodies. The internet is conducive for this research because it is widely available, and easy to use. All that the researcher will do is to Google the question that the researcher wants answered. Once, this is done, there will be a wide variety of information presented. It will be up to the researcher to choose the information that he thinks is relevant and acceptable to him. Library research on the other hand will involve studying books, and electronic journals for purposes of getting relevant information about Trade Unionism. The libraries to use are government libraries, and libraries belonging to reputable academic institutions. Questionnaires: The researcher will use questionnaires for purposes of gathering data. The people who will fill these questionnaires include leaders of various trade unions, members of these trade unions, and some employers. The following are the questions that will be contained in the questionnaires; What is the role of trade unions? Are Trade Unions effective in articulating the needs of their employees? How do Trade Unions advocate for their rights? Should the government ban or regulate the activities of Trade Unions? What are the relationships between Trade Unions, Non-Unionized representation bodies, with that of employers? Interviews: The researcher will also use interviews for purposes of carrying out this research. The people targeted for the interviews are senior officials of trade unions, and some employers. In order to carry out an interview, the researcher will have to book an appointment with these people, and explain to them the purposes of the interview, and how the researcher will use the information gathered to conduct the interview under consideration. The researcher will use a tape recorder to preserve the answers of his interview questions. The questions to ask in an interview are the same questions contained in the questionnaire. This is for purposes of achieving consistency, and avoiding bias. Ethical Issues to Consider: In order for this research to achieve relevance and reliability, the researcher will have to observe ethics. For purposes of observing ethics, the researcher will do the following, Inform the participants of this research on the purposes of carrying out this research. Keeping confidential the identities of people who participate in this research. Recording the correct information given by the participants of this research. Implications of this Research: This research is important because it will provide an understanding of the importance of trade unions, and non-union representative bodies. It can therefore help policy makers to formulate polices that will help in promoting the development of trade unions, and non-union representative bodies. Bibliography: Baldwin, R. E. (2003). The decline of US labor unions and the role of trade. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics. Chavleski, A., & Risteski, T. (2013). The contemporary role of trade unions in the European Union in comparison with Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia. SEER, 21, 315-326. Donado, A., & Wälde, K. (2012). How Trade Unions Increase Welfare*. The Economic Journal, 23, no-no. Dray, P. (2010). There is power in a union: the epic story of labor in America. New York: Doubleday. Heery, E., Williams, S., & Abbott, B. (2012). Civil society organizations and trade unions: cooperation, conflict, indifference. Work, Employment & Society, 26(1), 145-160. Phelan, C. (2011). Trade unions in West Africa historical and contemporary perspectives. Oxford: Peter Lang. Räthzel, N. (2013). Trade unions in the green economy: working for the environment. New York, NY: Routledge. Ribarova, E. (2013). The social power of trade unions in the new market economies: why is it in decline?. SEER, 23, 295-302. Somers, R. (2013). Trade unions. S.l.: Book On Demand Ltd. Zhu, Y. (2012). Workers and intellectuals: NGOs, trade unions and the Indonesian labour movement. Asia Pacific Business Review, 18(1), 131-133. Zikmund, W. G. (2013). Business research methods (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. Read More