Trade Unions
"A trade union is an independant
self-regulating organization of workers
created to protect and advance the
interests of its members through collective
action." Over recent years, it
has become fashionable in many quarters to
write off Britain’s trade unions,
to label them as obsolete institutions out
of touch with new realities and
incapable of change. In today’s world of
individual employment contracts,
performance-related pay schemes, Human Resource
and Total Quality Management
and all the other ingredients of the so-called
‘new’ workplace, trade unions
are often regarded as anachronistic obstacles
preventing success of the
market economy. As collective voluntary organizations
that represent
employees in the workplace, it is argued, trade unions no longer
serve a
useful purpose. The main priority of this essay is to represent the
arguments
for and against the relevance of trade unions in todays working
society.
Furthermore, I shall comment on the future of the trade union movement,
based
upon the facts and findings that helped construct this text. Trade
unions
exist because an individual worker has very little power to influence
decisions
that are made about his or her job. The greatest advantage in
joining a trade
union is because, by doing so, individuals possess more
chance of having a voice
and influence in their place of work. By joining
forces with other workers, an
individual’s opinions and beliefs regarding
their job will also be voiced by
other union members, thus creating a
stronger stance against management, if
needed. Therefore, the main purpose of
a trade union is to protect and improve
people's pay and conditions of
employment. This objective is usually achieved
through negotiation and
representation. Negotiation is where union
representatives discuss with
management, issues which affect people working in
an organization. The union
finds out the members’ views and relays these views
to management. Pay,
working hours, holidays and changes to working practices are
the sort of
issues that are negotiated. However, not all views will be taken on
board by
management; there may be a difference of opinion between them and
union
members. Negotiation, therefore, is about finding a solution to
these
differences. This process is also known as collective bargaining. "In
many
workplaces there is a formal agreement between the union and the
company, which
states that the union has the right to negotiate with the
employer. In these
organizations, unions are said to be recognised for
collective bargaining
purposes." People who work in organizations where
unions are recognised are
better paid, and are less likely to be made
redundant than people who work in
organizations where unions are not
recognised. Most collective bargaining takes
place quietly and agreements are
quickly reached by the union and the employer.
Occasionally disagreements
do occur, and in these cases the union may decide to
take industrial action.
"If the problem cannot be resolved amicably, the
matter may go to an
industrial tribunal." The purpose of industrial tribunals
is to make sure
that employees and employers conform to employment laws. They
are made up of
people outside the workplace who make a judgement about the case,
based on
the employee’s and employer’s point of view. Cases that go to
industrial
tribunals are usually about pay, unfair dismissal, redundancy
or
discrimination at work. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration
Service
(ACAS) is often used to help find a solution to a dispute, which is
acceptable
to both sides. "Its duty under the Employment Protection Act is to
promote the
improvement of industrial relations and in particular to
encourage the extension
of collective bargaining. Also to develop (and where
necessary to reform)
collective bargaining machinery. Its main functions are:
advisory work,
collective conciliation, individual conciliation, arbitration,
and extended
investigation into industrial relations problems." Individuals
can be
represented by trade unions when they encounter problems at work. If
an employee
feels that they are being unfairly treated, he or she can ask the
union
representative to help sort out the difficulty with the manager or
employer.
Apart from negotiation and representation, many other benefits
can be gained by
joining a trade union. One of these benefits is the fact
that unions can offer
their members legal representation. Usually this is to
help people to get
financial compensation for work-related injuries, or to
assist people in taking
their employer to court. Members can also take full
advantage of the wealth of
information which can be obtained from unions, of
which can prove invaluable.
The kind of information available covers a
range of issues ie. the length of
holiday that an employee is entitled to
each year, the amount of pay an employee
would be entitled to if they took
maternity leave, and how training can be
obtained at work. "During the last
ten years, trade unions have increased the
range of services they offer their
members. These include: education and
training - most unions run training
courses for their members on employment
rights, health and safety and other
issues. Some unions also help members who
have left school with little
education by offering courses on basic skills and
courses leading to
professional qualifications. legal assistance - as well as
offering legal
advice on employment issues, some unions give help with personal
matters,
like housing, wills and debt. financial discounts - people can get
discounts
on mortgages, insurance and loans from unions. welfare benefits - one
of the
earliest functions of trade unions was to look after members who hit
hard
times. Some of the older unions offer financial help to their members
when they
are sick or unemployed." These benefits can be gained by an
individual worker
via a subscription fee. The amount varies from union to
union and is normally
set at different levels according to the amount people
earn. Some unions reduce
the fees for unemployed members. Conversely, there
are disadvantages to trade
unions. In today’s high-powered world, with legal
protection secured within
almost every situation, it is becoming increasingly
difficult for the trade
union movement to operate at its full potential.
"Laws on trade union
organization make it more difficult for unions to
represent their members and to
negotiate improvements to their working
conditions." Employers no longer have
to, by law, recognise the trade unions
which their employees belong to. This
will be changed by the Government in
the summer of 2000, so that employees can
be properly represented by their
trade unions. The law also allows employers to
persuade people to give up
their rights to be represented by a trade union, by
offering higher wages and
personal contracts to employees who agree to give up
these rights. This can
almost be classed as a bribe, in which employers pay
workers more to decline
from joining a trade union. Also, it is evident that
modern management is
functioning at a far more efficient level than previously.
"A move from
the entrepreneurial 1980s to the post-entrepreneurial 1990s with
less
emphasis on gain and greed, and more on values such as concern for
people,
quality, customers and the environment." The relevance of trade
unionism in
todays working society could be argued, but I feel that that
there is still a
great need for them. One of the reasons for this is that a
lot of the time
people enter into a job with little, or no knowledge of their
rights within the
workplace. Trade unions exist to provide this knowledge. It
can also be argued
that actual legal representatives, or solicitors, can
perform the same
functions, but I disagree. Unlike solicitors, who have to
deal with a wide range
of situations, trade unions are a more convenient
source for workers to turn to.
They are ideally placed within the
organization, and they are totally dedicated
to the main concern, which is to
protect and advance the interests of its
members, the workers. I therefore
agree with the trade union movement, and
believe that they will exist for as
long as there are jobs. How successful they
are will depend on various
factors. A progressive fall in the number of jobs in
manufacturing industries
in the future, as in the past, will constitute the
decline of trade union
membership. So will unemployment, which is currently high
by historic
standards. Another factor is the fall in traditional full time
employment,
and an increase in part time and temporary workers, who are less
likely to
join unions. An increase in the proportion of the workforce employed
by small
companies where it is often difficult for unions to organize, as well
as
hostile legislation will all comprise possible obstacles for the trade
union
to overcome. I am, nevertheless, inclined to believe that the future of
the
trade union movement lies with its past. It has managed to overcome
major
obstacles in its time, and has come through it damaged, but still
existent. For
this reason, I feel that Britain’s trade unions will remain
adaptable and
pragmatic enough to grow once again into this new century, and
into the next.
Bibliography
Armstrong, M & Murlis, H (1991)
Reward Management Second Edition Begg, D
(1987) Economics Second Edition
Clark, A & Layard, R (1993) UK Unemployment
Second Edition Jones, J
& Morris, M (1986) A-Z of Trade Unionism and
Industrial Relations
Taylor, R (1994) The Future of the Trade Unions TUC Company
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