International Employment Relation - Report Example

International Employment Relation Executive Summary In the paper, a brief conception regarding the trade unions has been portrayed in terms of employment relationship. Moreover, various aspects such as a general idea regarding the various issues regarding trade unions that prevail particularly in Australia and the United States of America along with a summative conclusion have been taken into concern in the discussion of this paper. Moreover, collectively this particular paper depicts the aspect of employment relationship in between the employees and the employer within the economy of the respective countries. Table of Contents Executive Summary ii Introduction 4 Overview of Trade Unions in Australia 4 Overview of Trade Unions in United States of America 6 Introduction Trade unions are considered to be a necessary element especially in the conception of industrial relations as well as in the relationship of employment between the employees and the employer. The issue regarding the trade unions is one of the foremost issues, which is prevailing in various countries which ultimately affects upon the employment relations. The important purpose of the trade unions is to enhance as well as to raise the employment relations along with securing various benefits from the viewpoint of the employees (Kidner, 1980). In order to compare the issue related to trade unions across different countries, certain important aspects need to be considered as a framework. The important aspects include the advantages, role, importance and membership factor of the trade unions of the various countries. The trade unions of both Australia and the United States possess a significant effect upon the employment relationships and they also identify certain issues related with the establishments and functions of trade unions. Overview of Trade Unions in Australia The notion of trade unionism largely prospered in Australia during the 20th century. At that period, the memberships in the Australian trade unions were much greater and thus the trade unions were placed in a better position. However, gradually, the level of the memberships in the trade unions of Australia has fallen sharply due to certain major factors. The major factors include widespread opposition made by the government and the employer towards the trade unions and various structural transformations that were recognised in the economy of Australia (Svensen, Small, & Griffin, n.d.). In terms of the structural transformations, in common to other industrialised nations, there has been a fall in the percentage of the workers or the employees who are mainly involved in the areas like manufacturing and other heavy industries. Moreover, the trade unions of Australia also faced certain difficulties that include the factor of high degree of unemployment and raising distinctions in the working class of the workers. In addition, the other difficulties also include the disintegration of bargaining units, increase of casual working conditions and the factor of decentralisation of the procedures of industrial relations (Svensen, Small, & Griffin, n.d.). The Australian law does not limit the notion of collective bargaining towards the trade unions. The “Workplace Relations Act of 1996” was recognised as a foremost piece of labour legislation in Australia. This particular act permits the working people or employees of an organisation in order to enter into collective agreements (Institute For International Law and Human Rights, 2009). In relation to the trade unions, the largest body representing on behalf of the workers in Australia is the “Australian Council of Trade Unions” which possesses a definite vision to enhance as well as to raise the living style and working standards of the workers or the working people. The “Australian Council of Trade Unions” has played a noteworthy role in delivering total equality and justice towards the working community in Australia (ACTU, 2012). The purposes of the “Australian Council of Trade Unions” may be conveniently segregated into various broad groups. The groups may include the conditions of delivering adequate services to the members, enhanced employment circumstances, sustaining the safety of the working people or members and strengthening the union as an organisation (Walker, 1956). From the perspective of the betterment of industrial relations and employment relationship, the purposes of “Australian Council of Trade Unions” lie in several aspects. The aspects include the working conditions of the workers or employees in terms of wages, hours along with physical working circumstances and safety of employment along with maintaining the strength of the union as an organisation (Walker, 1956). Thus, it can be stated that the significance and the various purposes of the trade unions or the council of the trade unions such as “Australian Council of Trade Unions” mainly emphasise upon enhancing the employment relationships in between the employees and the employer. Overview of Trade Unions in United States of America The labour unions are lawfully viewed as the council of the working people or the workers that prevail in many industries especially in the United States. The functions of the union of labours in the United States mainly lie upon the collective bargaining in terms of wages and suitable working circumstances. The other responsibilities of the labour unions that prevail in the United States include settling the various occurrences of disputes with management, ensuring safe workplace for the employees and enhancing the interrelation in between the employees and the employer (Ruiz & Korrol, 2006). It has been noted by Griswold (2010), that the numbers of union memberships in the United States have significantly lowered due to the factor of globalisation. The union leaders as well as the members largely viewed the factor of globalisation for the diminishing of memberships to a certain extent. Griswold (2010) also recognised that the diminishing rate of memberships was greater in the public sector rather than the private sector. Moreover, apart from the issue of the factor of globalisation, certain transformations in the US economy also added towards the diminishing rate of union memberships. The certain transformations include extreme worldwide competition, greater reliance upon the temporary workers and evolution from a service economy to a manufacturing one (Griswold, 2010). In terms of the employment relationship along with the conception of trade unions, especially the employment and labour laws of the United States are comparatively dissimilar from other developed nations. The US employment circumstances are fundamentally based upon the conception of collective bargaining which is quite different from other developed nations (Goldman & Corrada, 2011). In this context, the workers of the US are represented by an individual union which gets selected by choices made by the majority. The elected individual union ultimately becomes the representative of the working people or workers in the US that enacts various beneficial activities for the workers as well as towards the conception of collective bargaining (Goldman & Corrada, 2011). Conclusion After acquiring a brief idea along with comparing the various issues regarding the trade unions of Australia and the United States of America, it is observed that the trade unions possess a noteworthy impact upon the economy of these nations. Moreover, the trade unions also possess a considerable impact upon the interrelation in between the employees and the employer. While analysing the factors of the conception regarding the trade unions especially of Australia and the United States of America, it has been viewed that the functions and the objectives of the trade unions are to deliver various benefits to the workers in their respective countries. The successful accomplishment of the various objectives of the Australia and the USA trade unions for the sake of the working people would ultimately raise the employment relationship by a significant level. Thus, it can be stated that the trade unions are established for the welfare of the working people or the workers of a nation and to enhance the employment relationship between the employees and the employer. References ACTU. (2012). History of the ACTU. Retrieved from http://www.actu.org.au/About/ACTU/default.aspx Goldman, A. L., & Corrada, R. L. (2011). Labour law in the USA. Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Griswold, D. (2010). Unions, protectionism, and U.S competitiveness. Cato Journal 30(1), pp.181-196. Institute For International Law and Human Rights. (2009). Trade union and syndicate legislation: international practice. Retrieved from http://lawandhumanrights.org/documents/legalmemotradeunion.pdf Kidner, R. (1980). Trade Unions. UK: Taylor & Francis. Ruiz, V., & Korrol, V. S. (2006). Latinas in the United States: a historical encyclopaedia, volume 1. US: Indiana University Press. Svensen, S., Small, R., & Griffin, G. (n.d.). Trade union innovation, adaptation and renewal in Australia: still searching for the holy membership grail. Retrieved from http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/fun/grif2.pdf Walker, K. F. (1956). Australian industrial relations systems. US: Harvard University Press. Read More