The Changing Nature of Roles of Trade Unions - Article Example

The Changing Nature of Roles of Trade Unions The role of trade unions at the workplace have significantly changed over the past years. Trade unions refer to those organizations that represent people at work. In the United Kingdom, the unions are meant to operate independently, that is, without relying on the employer’s support.Most people join the unions in order to higher payments at work, but, the trade unions play other roles, which are essential in ensuring healthy employee-employer relationships(Wilkinson 2014, p. 89). First, the trade unions negotiate the pay and conditions of workers at the workplace. Those working in firms are protected by these unions such that their wages and salaries cannot be altered by the employer at his/her own pleasure. Also, the unions ensure workers work for negotiable hours. In addition, they focuses on workers’ health and safety through negotiating for favourable working conditions (Wilkinson 2014, p. 90). Secondly, the unions represent workers to their employers. Usually, the employers engage in “collective bargaining” with the trade unions. The unionsnegotiates for workers’ rights during these meetings. Sometimes, disagreements arise, which results to industrial actions such as a strike. In order to prevent workers from negotiating individually with their employers, the trade unions give them adviceandinformation on the best ways to give their complaints and at the right time. Other functions of the unions include resolving conflicts and providing services for the union members.Some of these services include insurance schemes, pension schemes, and discounts on shopping (Wilkinson 2014, p. 99). As stated earlier, trade unions have changed their roles over the past years due to globalization, outsourcing of labour and legal constraints. The role of unions has changed recently where they not only represent workers during negotiations but also recruit new workers in case the employers dismiss them. Due to the fragmentation of the labour market, the trade unions have reduced their role of ensuring the welfare of many workers. In other words, they have shifted their focus from workers to the enterprises.They regulate the workers conditions and payments at enterprise-level unlike before when they acted with workers in fighting for labour rights. The rise of unions that are sponsored by employers have eroded the basic roles of trade unions in protecting labourforce (Wilkinson 2014, p. 100). Most firms have employed the non-union workers as a way of protecting themselves from industrial strikes.Therefore, trade unions remain powerless in regulating the employee’s payments and conditions in such organizations. Due to the loss in the working days due to strikes for the past years, the trade unions’ right to take industrial actions have diminished.Most organizations have derecognized the trade unions and as a result, they employ non-union workers (Wilkinson 2014, p. 102). With the legal reforms and economic changes over the past decades, have resulted to decline in union membership. For example, the opening of the British markets to the international competitions has impacted the public sector in the economy. Low union membership means little or no influence at the place of work. However, the union remains significant players in setting wages in both private and public sectors. Additionally, the unions have advocated for laws and policies that protect employees against workplace discrimination (Wilkinson 2014, p. 110). Employee relations refer to the employment relationship between the employer and the workers. Over the past decades, the trade unions have been observed to exert power and influence over these relations due to various reasons. First, the union recognition in late 1990,s enabled them to develop and influence the employees’ relations at the workplace. They shifted to enterprise-level bargaining where they significantly influenced the employer-employees relationship. In response, many organizations posed to derecognize the unions by employing non-union workers. In the early 2000’s, many trade unions were formed covering a wide range of employment areas. They recruited members and formed strong unions. Due to disagreements during the “collective bargaining” procedures they took industrial actions, which resulted to numerous strikes. Many companies were affected in terms of production, distribution and delivery of services.Secondly, due to the large number of members who joined the unions in the 1990’s the employment relationship was greatly influenced until later in the 2000’s (Wilkinson 2014, p. 111). However, the power and influence exerted on industrial relations has changed over the past decade due to the introduction of laws that removed many employment rights advocated for by the labour rights activists. Additionally, many organizations have advocated for employees’ consultation even after they employ non-union workers. The changing nature of employees’ relation has also been contributed by the industrial actions restrictions as well as breakdown of the national bargaining structures. Due to the many strikes held over the last decades, employers have sponsored unions reducing their impact and the influence on the employment relationship. The declined union members have also changed the union’s influence within the workplace (Wilkinson 2014, p. 121). Research has shown that restriction of industrial actions has changed the union’s power over the employee-employer relationship. Due to the legislative changes outlawing the strikes over the past years, labour unions consistently lowered their influence at the workplace. It is because few unions can take such actions since they fear being litigated.The recent decline in union membership has significantly changed the power and influence exerted on industrial relations by the labour unions. Research has revealed that the union membership decline has been sharper in Europe and particularly the United Kingdom. In 1980, the union density was 50 percent; in 2000, 30 percent and 27 percent in 2010 (Wilkinson 2014, p. 124). The decline has been pronounced among the male workers, manual workers, private- employed workers and more. The loss of members means that trade unions are not well represented by workers in most organizations, and, therefore, cannot influence the employee relations. The rising number of workplaces using non-union employees as the voice mechanisms has changed the trade unions’ influence on the employment relationship. These groups that do not belong to any trade union have instead, improved the welfare of employees at the workplace. According to studies conducted in UK, the trade unions are the best mechanisms in regulating workers’ conditions and payments, but, the ever increasing non-union workers have consistently weakened the unions within workplaces. Also, many firms have derecognized the trade unions and instead, they have adopted human resource management strategies in order to improve workers’ satisfaction and productivity (Wilkinson 2014, p. 125). Due to the increasing unemployment rates, the unions’ power and influence over the employee relations will change continuously even the future.When people are dismissed from work, the trade unions lose members, which means that they will not be represented well within the workplaces. In other words, they cannot regulate or control the relationship between the employer and employees. Other factors such as fragmentation of the labour market where many firms outsource workers have weakened the trade unions, as well (Wilkinson 2014, p. 127). References Wilkinson, A. (2014). Handbook of research on employee voice. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar Publishing. Read More