The Decline of Trade Unions Membership in Britain During 1979 - Essay Example

Trade union density has undergone significant decline since 1979. Critically evaluate the reasons for this change in both the public and private sector during this period, and assess the likely effects of the recent downturn in the economy and the potential for future growth in trade union membership levels. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Trade union density in private and public sector since 1979 4 3. Recent recession and trade unions 9 4. Conclusion - Potentials for future growth in trade union membership levels 10 References 12 1. Introduction In the context of the global market business operating in various industries have to change their operational structure and priorities in order to meet the changing customer preferences and the strong competition; under these conditions, employees’ rights have been violated repeatedly – the development of appropriate employment policies has been often considered to be costly or time consuming. However, in the theoretical and empirical research it has been proved that the role of employees is of crucial importance for the development of business performance; for this reason the protection of employees’ rights would be a priority for HR departments of modern organizations. Current paper focuses on the decline of trade unions membership in Britain during 1979; reference is also made on the challenges faced by trade unions in the context of current recession and their prospects in the future. Relevant theoretical and empirical studies have been employed and critically analysed; it is proved that the status of trade union memberships in 1979 can be interpreted in two different approaches: the decrease in the number of male workers during that period was combined with the increase of the number of women and workers of other categories joining the trade unions – therefore, the performance of trade unions during that period could be characterized as being differentiated from the past; in other words, the structure of unions might changed but their power to influence the political decisions in Britain remained strong. 2. Trade union density in private and public sector since 1979 The position of trade unions in Britain has changed through the decades in accordance with the social and cultural ethics but also the political system of the country; in their first appearance – in the 18th century – trade unions were not accepted by the law – the participation in the specific organizations was considered as crime and it was punished accordingly (Hollowell, 2003); however, after their incorporation in the country’s social life – being accepted by the law at 1825 – trade unions started to involve actively in various issues developed in the workplace. It should be noted at this point that up today it has not been possible to identify the exact level at which the unions involve in employment disputes; in the study of Fairbrother (1996) it is noted that ‘the way unions deal with HRM at a local level is varied and depends on the traditions and forms of union organization and practice in different sectors’ (Fairbrother, 1996, 10). Furthermore, trade unions have been often accused as influencing negatively the employees’ productivity (Nolan, 1992, 3); this is a claim that can be explained using two different approaches. In accordance with the first approach, trade unions are the organizations that can guarantee the improvement of employment status – their involvement in employment disputes is necessary at the level that this is considered to be the most effective way to press employers accept the employees’ claims. Following this approach, the development of conflicts in the workplace because of the involvement of trade unions is justified – through this approach conflict is unavoidable as the expected result of asking for the rights that the law recognize to all employees across Britain. Through the second approach, employees in Britain are not benefited by the unions’ involvement in employment disputes. In accordance with this view, the intervention of unions in the workplace is not based on the interest for employees’ rights but rather for the interests of specific members of the union – referring mainly to the union’s administration. In the study of Wrigley (2002) it is noted that in 1979 the power of trade unions reached its highest level; the reasons for the above development have been identified to the following facts: ‘the degree of concentration of employment, the extent to which employers were willing to recognize trade unions representing white collar employees and the extent to which government action promoted trade union recognition’ (Bain, The Growth of White Collar Unionism, 1970 in Wrigley, 2002, 22). The role of trade unions in the development of employee relations in Britain has been changed since 1979; the continuous worsening of the global economy and the challenges faced by the changes in the country’s governance – Conservatives and Labour – have led to the decline in the density of unions across Britain. Different explanations have been given to the above outcome: in accordance with Richard Hyman – professor, London School of Economics – ‘another factor was the tougher competitive environment in which an anti-union stance seemed an attractive option to employers’ (BBC News, 8 March 2004). One of the most important factors for the decline in trade unions’ power in Britain since 1979 has been the change in the behaviour of political powers towards the unions. More specifically, ‘the employment legislation introduced by the Conservative governments between 1980 and 1993’ (McIlroy, 1999, 521) has been quite strict – as of the recognition and the protection of employees’ rights; the change in the country’s governance – from Conservative to Labour – did not particularly affected the pressures against the trade unions – even if different prospects might had been developed by the unions’ members of that period. The above problems are also highlighted in the study of Farnham et al. (1995); at a next level, the above researchers note that the period from 1979 onwards has been characterized by the change in the preferences of employees – as of their entrance in trade unions; in fact it has been proved that ‘this overall trend masks a surprisingly steady and sustained growth of employee membership of “non-affiliated” unions of professional workers and of staff associations, during the 1980s and early 1990s’ (Farnham et al., 1995, 5). From a different point of view, Heery (1997) states that the decision of employees to join a trade union is based on specific criteria – a fact that has been particularly developed the last two decades and reflects the changes in the role of trade unions since 1979; an indicative criterion of this type is the involvement of a trade union in the application of ‘individual performance – related pay schemes’ (Heery, 1997, 430). Under certain terms, technology has been considered as responsible for the decline of trade union membership – using the websites of various governmental and non-governmental organizations employees are able to decide on the methods that are indicated for the policies available regarding their problems in the workplace – the union’s membership is therefore of no use. The above assumption is also supported by the fact that the perceptions of British people regarding the technology are positive (Rowe, 1986, 18); however, in the case of the improvement of the technology in the workplace different perceptions could be developed – the use of the trade union membership in this case could be a tool for stating the opposition towards the limitation of positions in the workplace as a result of the improvement of the organizational IT systems. Through the decades the development of different views on the value of trade unions in Britain has been unavoidable. The Trade Union Committee (TUC) is used as the representative body of trade unions in the specific country aiming to set the borders of the unions’ intervention in the workplace but also to suggest the initiatives that they would be taken by unions when specific employment issues appear. An indicative example is the suggestions of TUC related with the potential cooperation between trade unions and employers for the improvement of training in enterprises across Britain (Willis, 1988, 3); however, in practice it has been proved that the involvement of trade unions in the improvement and the development of training in the workplace – referring to firms operating in UK – has been proved to be limited (Claydon et al., 1994, 37). The changing role of trade unions in the development of employment in Britain has been described in the study of Heery et al. (1993); in the above study the participation of employees in trade unions is characterized as having different characteristics – reference is made to three different periods: the first period refers to the years ‘from 1940s to the mid-1960s and was characterised by reliance on professional negotiators to service a largely passive membership; the participative relationship emerged in the 1960s and flourished in the 1970s and was marked by an activist conception of union membership; the managerial servicing relationship emerged in the 1980s’ (Heery et al., 1993, 1). Today, the practices of trade unions in Britain need to be aligned with those of similar organizations in other countries of the European Union; the integration of Britain – as of all other member states – within the EU leads to the need for implementation by the country’s government of employment policies that will ensure fairness and equality in the workplace (Welch, 1994, 48); similar efforts have been made by the country before its entrance in the EU – however, in the context of the EU the relevant procedures are likely to progress faster. The change in trade unions’ structure – in the context described above – is also highlighted in the study of McIlroy (1995); on the other hand, it is made clear that despite their re-structuring, trade unions in Britain continue to affect the political decisions on employment in businesses of both the private and the public sector (Harcourt et al., 2004, 17); moreover, it is noted that the support of political parties to the trade unions seem to follow similar approaches – referring to both the Conservatives and the Labour (Byrne, 1997, 26); in any case the membership in trade union is still considered as the best practice for employees in Britain – no matter if it is a recognized trade union or not (Harvey et al., 1989, 34) 3. Recent recession and trade unions The last decade the role of unions in the protection of employees’ rights has been changed – the increase of the competition in all industrial sectors has led to the need for the differentiation of the traditional practices of unions across Britain (Herod, 2009, 47). Through a research conducted in 2005 in firms operating in the British market it was revealed that the changes in the form of employment in Britain and the increase of the power of employee – as a result of the introduction of the relevant European legislation but also of the improvement of the terms of access of employees to appropriate organizations for being informed on their rights (Gall, 2005, 208) – have led to the decline of the power of unions across the country. In recent recession, trade unions participated actively in the protection of employees rights – however, their power to intervene drastically in the changing of governmental proposals has been rather limited due to the nature of the crisis – strong financial turbulences not only in the national but also in the global market. In any case, the role of trade unions in current market conditions seems to be differentiated compared to the past; the actual priority of trade unions has been the fight for the limitation of inequalities in the workplace – referring mostly to inequalities developed because of the social class of workers (Cole, 2009, 370). In recent recession, trade unions in Britain had to respond to the following challenges: a) the pressures on the national economy – by the international market – did not leave many chances for dynamic reaction to the political decisions of the specific period, b) the willingness of employees to participate in relevant initiatives has been limited – thinking that the specific efforts would not likely to have the results required, c) the development of similar actions in the international community was not the expected- in fact only in countries like France and Germany the protests of employees towards the political decisions taken in the context of the crisis have been quite strong. In any case, the willingness of the trade unions’ members for the development of such protests was not enough in order for such activities to be arranged. In this way, trade unions were proved rather inadequate to protect employees’ rights in businesses across the country – but the role of employees in this failure was major. 4. Conclusion - Potentials for future growth in trade union membership levels Despite the fact that the role of trade unions in the development of all aspects of employee relations has been considered to be important – in the context of the studies presented above - it has been found in practice that in certain cases trade unions either avoid intervening in order to support the rights of their members – or their initiatives do not have the results expected. In any case, the participation of employees in trade unions is an important prerequisite for the development of employment in Britain; the role of a trade union’s certification (Certification Officer website, 2009) is significant in order to for a person to join the specific union; even there is no such certification, careful examination of the union’s structure, resources and goals should be made in advance. In accordance with a report published by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in 2008 the ‘union membership for UK employees shows membership in 2008 has fallen by 1.8 per cent (125 thousand) to 6.9 million compared to 2007’ (BERR, 2008). It is also noted that ‘of the four UK nations, Wales had the highest union density (37.4 per cent of employees)’ (BERR, 2008). It seems from the above statistics that the decline in trade union membership is kept at specific levels but it is continuous; this is a problem that needs to be resolved; otherwise, no prospects would be expected to exist for trade unions in the future. The weaknesses of trade unions to handle effectively the problems appeared in employment across Britain in the recent recession is a negative indicator for the potentials of trade unions to respond to emergency conditions. However, they still could have chances to improve their position in the British market if they would try to use different approaches for resolving employees’ problems. References Byrne, P. (1997) Social movements in Britain. Taylor & Francis Claydon, T., Green, F. (1994) Can Trade Unions Improve Training in Britain? Personnel Review, Vol. 23, Issue 1, pp. 37-51 Cole, G. (2009) The World of Labour: A Discussion of the Present and Future of Trade Unionism. BiblioBazaar Edwards, P. 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