Human Resources and Unions - Research Paper Example

Human Resources and Unions Human Resources and Unions Role of unions in US Unions play a significant role in U.S. economy by exploring the society developments, science and technology, economics and the law. The role of unions should be increased to stimulate discussion of the emerging issues that affect the HRM profession. Historically, the Labor Relation Act of 1935 in US gave the workers right to form and join unions to enhance employer-employee bargaining. Since then, the union membership in U.S. increased at a steady rate, but over the last few decades, disagreements had resulted to decline of unions (Verma, 2003).

Despite these disagreements on the future direction of unions, there have been tremendous efforts by the labor leadership and the outside observers of resolving the disagreement. The split of long term and short term issues will contribute to improved unionization and human resources. For increased role of unions and human resources, short term goals include organizing for unions and recruitment of new members. The long term issues include the effects on the political alliances, activities at the international level and change of demographics of the union members (Kelemen, 2010).

Role of HRM in employee relation The Human Resource Management (HRM) entails management, planning, selection and implementation of organization initiatives. Employee relation entails social justice achieved through decent work and fair employment practices. HRM plays a crucial role in maximizing productivity within an organization by optimization of the effectiveness of employees and treatment of employees as valuable assets. HRM encompasses the efforts towards the promotion of the personal development, compliance to the set laws, and employee satisfaction.

The departments within the HRM focus mostly on planning, evaluation and implementation activities to achieve equilibrium between the employer and employee. Planning encompasses development of the human resource regulations and policies while the implementation procedures enable companies realize their goals (Kelemen, 2010). The HR managers are influential in advising the organization on business technique that will help achieve their goals. Apart from ensuring that the organization achieves more profitability, the HR managers are crucial in leadership development by training and recruiting new managers (Friedman, 2007).

Role of government in employee relations According to Friedman (2007), the federal government is crucial in industrial operations. They take part in economic development through the formulation of laws on taxation and the labor policies. Uniformity and policies in the workplace happen because of efforts by the government. The laws established by the government should be adhered to within the work place. There are laws on taxation, child labor, and federal minimum wage laws. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates safety in many industrial settings, in United States.

This body acts as the watchdog between the government and employers. The Federal Government relies on OSHA in policing the safety regulations formulated. Furthermore, government funds corporations under the danger of collapse like in the case of economic downturns. The key labor agencies get their budgets from the government. These agencies can be termed as crucial in ensuring training, cooperation and safety developments in many organizations. The government schedules meetings with the secretaries to Labor and Commerce towards the support of the workplace innovations.

The government thereafter determines on the relevant techniques necessary for overcoming the workplace obstacles and ensures sustainable innovations (Verma, 2003). References Friedman, B. A. (2007). Globalization Implications for Human Resource Management Roles. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 19 (3), 157-71. Kelemen, R. D. (2010). Trading Places: The Role of the United States and the European Union in International Environmental Politics. Comparative Political Studies 43(4), 427-56. Verma, A. (2003).

Global Labour Standards: Can we get from here to there? International Comparative Journal of Labour Law and Industrial Relations 19 (4), 515-534.