Efforts to Revive Membership in the British Trade Unions - Essay Example

Efforts to Revive Membership in the British Trade Unions Trade unions are important components in a business world where participants are focused on offering quality services. Countries with well instituted and properly managed trade unions enjoy unique employer-employee relation thus declaring an ample environment for business operations. Highly performing trade unions usually consider protecting employee rights as the basic driving force towards prosperity. Any laxity on the side of the unions in the push to champion employee rights may lead to the uncalled fall and liquidation of initially successful trade union. It is worth acknowledging that British trade unions enjoyed the advantage of high membership registration immediately before 1979. However, this high historic clamour did not last long as the trade unions faced a tragic resignation and defection of their member. The main causes of the fall of the British trade unions were due to the high rise of unemployment due to financial crisis that resulted to a high lay-off of workers (Smith 2011). In addition, the employees were defeated by the government in their push for salary increment, an incidence used by the government to institute laws allowing the employers to sack their rebellious workers at will. Furthermore, the Labour government made depriving laws in 1974 with a move to revenge against the great miners strike by adopting the Tory anti-union laws designated to cut industrial wages. Labour government also worked hard to weaken the momentary strong shop stewards’ organization. The initial moves accomplished by the Labour government demoralized individual workers from participating in national votes thus paving way for Margret Thatcher and Tories laws insurgence to power. Upon entrance of the Conservative government into power under the umbrella of Margret Thatcher, new mechanisms were devised to reverse the defeat suffered by the employers at the hands of the trade unions. In that line, Margret started by isolating the key trade unions after which Tory anti-union laws of 1980 was adopted. Conservative government began the fight with the steel miners and the health workers in the year 1980 and then the printers in 1985 whose defeats returned to the government. In addition, there was great contest between the leaders of the various trade unions over who could lead the entire trade unions in Britain. This led to the automatic weakening of the efforts of the entire trade unions (Smith 2011). Since 1980, British trade unions have tried to regain their former stature and power with limited success. In a move to restore the initial membership of workers into the trade unions, British trade unions have adopted practical policies that have stood to bear desirable results that in reviving the image of the trade unions. According to Budd and Mumford (2001, 2), many trade unions in the British economy have adopted family friendly policies, which have led to recovery of particular trade unions. The family friendly policy entails provision of subsidized onsite day care to the workers on board. In addition, family friendly practices provide free health care services to the children of the employees. Furthermore, the family friendly services offered by the trade unions in Britain avails free meals to the onsite workers, a practice ought to increase the performances of the employees. Family friendly practices include provision of benefits that allow flexibility of the employees to tune from full time workers to balance between work and family issues. According to Budd and Mumford (2001, 3), the most critical component of benefits offered by the family friendly policy is the leave policies. Trade unions in Britain have risen to define the real areas of leave policies that apply to all workers regardless of their gender. Trade unions have fixed the leave policies to recognize maternity leave that is allowed to mothers upon delivery. The maternity in the understanding of the trade unions in Britain identifies the distinction between leave to delivery and leave after delivery to care for the born baby. Trade unions in the move to entice members have also included paternal leave to fathers allowing them to follow up with their wives around the time of child delivery. Trade unions in Britain allow an estimated eighteen weeks maternity leave for their pregnant employees. Pregnant mothers who have served for more than one year in a given business organization have the right to request for extension of maternity leave. Budd and Mumford (2001, 3) report that trade unions in Britain have gone extra miles to guaranty thirteen weeks of unpaid parental leave to male and female workers, which later will be used in catering for the needs of the child through the first five years of child’s life. Budd and Mumford (2001, 4) disclose that British trade unions have been revolutionized to allow employees deviation from regular job schedules. Under this sub policy, employees are allowed to share responsibilities of working day by serving in half work time basis by each employee. Trade unions have also gone miles to allowing employees the freedom to choose whether they work on part time basis or full time basis. In addition, this family friendly policy allows the employees to decide according to their preferred schedules on what days of the week they report to work. Furthermore, the family friendly policies allow the employees telecommute by working from home. British trade unions established strategies that focus on bargaining for salary increment for the members. Achur (2011, 17) provides that members of the trade unions in Britain enjoyed a whooping hourly pay of £ 14 in 2010 while non-union employees got lower pay of £ 12 per hour. Such strategies as employed the trade unions in Britain have resulted into magnificent request for unionization by many employees. This method was highly pragmatic considering the fact that every employee works to get higher pay. According to Guthrie (1996, 20), British trade unions have resorted to full campaigns for anti-discrimination policies optimized to restore equality in the working environment. Adoption of anti-discrimination policies by the trade unions has gleaned a large number of members to the various trade unions. Achur (2011, 18) agrees that the anti-discrimination policies employed by most of the trade unions have raised confidence of the marginalized employees in terms of their safety and rights. Adoption of the anti-discrimination policies by the British trade unions has attracted a great number of women into the membership of the trade unions. Achur (2011, 18) calculates that in the year 2010, women employees comprised a whopping 54.6% of the total union members in the economy of Britain. It is with particular importance to note that anti-discrimination policies dressed by the British trade unions have also played great role in absorbing disabled employees who have since considered the unions as appropriate shelters for rights. Achur (2011, 18) confirms that trade unions with anti-discrimination policies registered an average of 18.5% of the total union members as per the 2010 statistics. According to TUC.org (2011), British trade unions have initiated policies destined to bargaining for better pay and benefits for the members. Trade unions have acted as the loud speakers of the employees by penetrating into employers’ offices and raise bargains for pay increments of the members. In addition, British trade unions have adopted particular plans for training individual members concerning particular competitive advantages in a certain business setup. The trade unions also have taken measures to sponsor individual members in furthering their educations with regard to the field marketability. Sponsorship programmes have to great extents attracted non-union members to register in particular unions. Trade unions have also assumed mediation roles by reconciling the employer to their employees in case a member gets sacked under unjustifiable grounds. TUC.org (2011) confirms that trade unions have undertaken absolute measures to ensure that employers take full responsibilities of providing and protecting health care of their employees. The listed measures as adopted by individual trade unions have heightened the game planned for attracting more employees into the membership of the trade unions. Coupled with the added advantages, trade unions have also reduced membership charges to absorb more employees. Estimates indicate that an average trade union charges £ 1.5 per week for employees who under part time service while full time employees pay an affordable rate of £ 2.5 per week. Redflag.org indicates that the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has placed plans to mobilize recruitment of new employees who upon absorption in the labour markets gets express registration in particular trade unions. In addition, Redflag.org provides that trade unions in Britain have instituted measures to encourage members to operate in transparent way to gain employees trust and attract them into the unions. Furthermore, trade unions have worked towards transforming the image of the individual trade unions into employees’ insurance policy in order to regain the trust of many employees. This strategy has worked towards attracting of more employees into registration as members of particular trade unions. The current British trade unions have also established measures to sell themselves as good advocates of employee rights in order to regain credibility at the employees’ level (Redflag.org). Moreover, trade unions have developed well structured methodologies by which they can initiate and make prompt response to the calls for strike by the members. This strategy tends to clear British trade unions from the initial blames of betrayal when the leaders of the particular trade unions worked in cahoots with the government and employers to infringe the requests of the employees. Trade unions in British economy have initialized plans to mobilize their members towards pressurizing the Labour Party to fight for suspension of laws that affect operation of trade unions. The synergies between various trade unions and the socialist groups have been a very practical approach by the trade unions to build a substantial capacity towards regaining the membership growth. According to Redflag.org, Socialists play basic role in enhancing successful union campaigns and helping in the union bargain for pay increment. Socialists have helped in the development and implementation of union policies as well reaching out to non-union employees and educating them on the benefits of the unions. In addition, amalgamation of trade unions and the Socialist groups have assisted in gaining full participation of the existing union members in their respective trade unions. In the reports of Waterman (2011), numerous trade unions in Britain established strategies intended to unify them under the Trade Union Congress. This move intends to strengthen various constituent unions under the TUC but in different sectors to concede successful strike without government interventions (Undy 2011). The powers posed by TUC in challenging government by declaring full production strike have raised the confidence of employees on the eligibility of the trade unions. Waterman (2011) opines that the British trade unions have embarked on massive advocacy for recruitment of many stewards who according to history are the centre codes for change. Increase in the number of steward members have restored the hopes of many employees in the trade unions due to clear knowledge of the efforts of the stewards in fighting for protection of employees’ rights across Britain. Oxenbridge (2000, 2) avers that British trade unions have initiated the idea of activism, which they use as avenues of sensitizing workers to register into unions. The activists have also been used by trade unions to organize visits to workers’ homes and plan for informal meetings with the workers. Such strategies have provided ample chances for unions to hold open talks with workers to restore trust and display signs of commitment and care. Taylor (12) investigates that the role currently assumed by the British trade unions of mediating between the employees and the employers is not viable considering the globalization factors where the relation between employees and employers is perceived to be narrowing. In addition, Taylor disputes the perceived high concentration extended to public sectors by the trade rather than in the private sectors. Most job opportunities in the current years are produced by private sectors, which happen to have large numbers of employees. According to Taylor (14), the act of British trade unions to place great focus on negotiating employment terms between the employee and the employer is losing ground in a business world where employer has sole rights over the employee. Taylor (15) disputes the role of bargaining for the rights of employees as adopted by most of the trade unions citing that with the growing democracy, employers and most companies struggle to circumvent development of unions due to the fear of subjugation. The current rate of informed employees concerning the issues of democracy and transparency has demeaned the needs for unions since employees have enough confidence to approach employers and place their grievances. Mcllroy (1995, 369) indicates that collective bargaining as adopted by most of the British trade unions doe not conform to industrial democracy. Collective bargaining has been tarnished from accountability to organized rebellion groups who swindle the rights of managers to exercise full control over their particular employees. Particular government legislations have been structured requiring the employees to derecognize trade unions within the labour markets thus weakening the powers of the unions. In conclusion, British trade unions have faced tuff moments since their historic fall of 1980. It has been challenging for most of the trade unions in Britain to regain focus and swoop employees trust in the operations of the trade unions. However, it with particular importance to note that with all the contemporary challenges, trade unions in Britain have made notable steps towards attain a rising number of employees in the trade unions. Worthy to note are the strategic efforts exerted by the trade unions to lay particular focus on the desires of employees who are the perceived materials for unions’ existence. It is also imperative to admit that British trade unions have faced great resistance from government and employers due to perceived fears of employees mobilization to desist from employer’ policies. 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