More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on labor unions in the united states
Essay on labor unions in the united states
The role of labor unions
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Disadvantages The disadvantages of union membership are viewed from the employee and employer perspective. Through the employee lens, the disadvantages manifest in the form of fees, loss of autonomy, and less collaborative work environment. As part of the union, you surrender many of your individual rights in exchange for the organized results that can potentially manifest through the collective bargaining process. Therefore, there isn’t any assurance that your individual concern will even be addressed. For the employer, the disadvantages come in the form of higher wages, strikes and decreased human resource control. Many unions negotiate workplace rules that promote and protect workers based on seniority, rather than merit. It means that if you need to terminate a number of workers, you must terminate those workers you’ve hired most recently, not those workers who are the least productive (Ashe-Edmunds, 2014). The concept affects the efficiency of the organization, which directly affects profits.
Size
…show more content…
They are appropriate in many situations to ensure the demands of the employees are properly addressed and potentially adhered to. Management and unions seek to avoid a strike. With an honest assessment of the internal resources and external forces that affect union strategy, the union should be able to identify concrete accomplishments that are within reach and those matters that would be nice but are probably unachievable (Missouri, 2015). An example is the NFL referees union that organized a strike in 2012. The strike materialized for two primary reasons. First, the referees were seeking benefits that they put at $16.5 million over the five years of a new contract (Mills, 2012). Secondly, the NFL felt as if they could use replacement referees until the referees union
As companies look to expand operations and hire new employees, many economic and environmental factors are taken into consideration. The cost of labor is one of the primary concerns as labor generally constitutes a large part of company budgets. The organization of labor by unions further increases this concern. The wages of unionized workers are significantly higher than the wages of nonunion workers in almost every industry (Fossum, 2012). Higher wages generally result in reduced company profits, lower share prices, and reduced shareholder returns (Fossum, 2012). Unionization also reduces the employer’s flexibility with regards to hiring, transferring, or promoting employees (Fossum, 2012). Productivity may be negatively impacted by unionization because merit is often eliminated as a criterion for wage increases or promotions (Fossum, 2012). As a result of these negative impacts, employers are motivated to oppose unionization.
Employees are motivated to join labor unions for various reasons. Most important of all is to seek redress for any real or perceived injustices in the workplace (Kearney, & Mareschal, 2014). The management should take cognizance of this fact and act accordingly to roll out a labor relations strategy that will enable them relate well with their employees whether unionized or not. When dealing with union matters at the company, the management should take bold steps in preventing the increase of union-related activities by enticing the employees by enhancing grievance handling and how the employees relate with the company (Carrell, & Heavrin, 2004). This can be achieved by:
This essay examines both the advantages and disadvantages of unions and non-unions in the organizational environments. It discusses the differing effects unions and non-unions have in regards to communication, morale, productivity, and employee management relations within the workplace. It also looks at the role unions have in private industry and how the changing plane of their respective industries impacts them. In addition to this, it looks at why these big changes are taking place and the numerous reasons for them. The landscape of unions and non-unions is shifting and this research essay looks at the overall effect the corresponding changes will have in the future of Canada.
The issue of the strike has been a controversial subject over the years. Many consider that generally, strikes get out of the hands of workers, becoming violent, losing their true purpose. But a general strike is one of the instruments currently available to the public that serves to change the direction of policies, alter social equilibrium, remove consciences and unite citizens in the expression of discontent. The general strike is the most visible way that society has to protest, it is the way that citizens have to make themselves visible and demonstrate their degree of disagreement with the laws that are being approved. In general, for a strike to be legal, it must comply with the requirements set by law, it must be temporary and carried out by the majority of workers seeking to defend common interests.
In 1955, the AFL and the CIO merged to form the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). The combination of these two previously rival unions made for the longest lasting and most significant labour federation in America. The AFL-CIO still strives to have workers receive fair rewards for their work including but not limited to; fair wages, reduced hours, benefits, improved conditions, and improved safety. The most significant change since the AFL’s founding in 1886 is that membership is not restricted to race, creed, sex or colour which although has changed alongside to modern day social views, this shows that a union, or a labour federation, can succeed without extreme restriction of membership – alternatively
Secondly, unions are seen as old-fashioned impediments to progress because many workers are not covered by collective bargaining contracts. Since these organizations are formed to help in collective bargaining, the lack of numerous bargaining contracts to cover many employers make them impediments to progress. In cases where collective bargaining contracts are used, they are negotiated between the company or business and the local union rather than national (Pencavel, 2014, p.143). Therefore, unions are no longer useful since many employers prefer to make the bargain with their employees rather than external organizations.
Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).
Unions have an extensive history of standing up for workers. They have advocated rights of steelworkers, coal miners, clothing factory employees, teachers, health care workers, and many others. The labor movement is based on the idea that organized workers as a group have more power than individuals would have on their own. The key purpose of any union is to negotiate contracts, making sure workers are respected and fairly compensated for their work. “In theory” unions are democratic organizations, resulting in varying inner authority. Workers look for security within a job a...
The employees that had the most experience would feel they couldn’t leave the job as easily since they would no longer be able to use their skills or the ability to earn a similar wage. Employers could institute unfair work conditions because they know employees could or would not leave.
Informing employees about the negative aspects of forming a union is vital. First, express the financial obligation of union dues that must be paid as a member. Failure to pay dues means no representation from union leaders. Next, unions do not support pay per performance
Hi Brook, really enjoyed your post! I agree there are many advantages and disadvantages. I have been a member of a nursing union and it really depends on how dedicated the union representatives is to the members. It would be nice to have better benefits and higher pay, but there is always a cost is achieving those goals. I am not for or against the union, I do know I would not cross a picket line, and work while other nursing is trying to achieve improvements in their benefits, wages, and work environment. Scabs, are individuals who cross the picket lines to replace the individuals on strike do not receive a warm welcome, and often are in danger of harm from the strikers.
When it comes to joining a union, I have positive and negative feelings. I have never been a union member or worked somewhere that has one, but I did work at Honda for a while and there is always information floating around about starting a union. I think there are pros and cons to unions. One pro being that it is there for low wages and working conditions. These are good for those like Teamsters that work with electricians, contractors, and many small businesses. They are able to work in smaller unions to help with bargaining and rights. I do feel though that unions can have a negative impact on large businesses. For example, International in Springfield, Ohio has employees that have been there 50 years. This is a great thing depending on
They make the labour markets less competitive between non-unionized members and unionized members. If labour markets are more competitive, higher wages will cause unemployment. Because organizations become harder to achieve higher production cost when wages go to above equilibrium level. Moreover, among collective bargaining agreements, employers are required to dismiss the most recent employees first and the seniority last. It is sometimes called “last hired, first hired”. Therefore, employees who have more seniority may gain more advantages for job opportunities while junior workers face temporary or permanent layoff. That issue creates unfair job motivation since decisions are determined by the seniority-based layoff system. The system may conflicts with the promotion of equality and encouraging diversity in the workplace. For example, as previous research provided by the Workplace Information Directorate of Human Resource Development Canada (HRDC), almost 70 percent of Canadian collective agreements mention seniority as a principle for the allocation of layoffs (Singh & Reid, 1998). As a result, seniority could be a potential source of discrimination in human resource
Labor unions offers its members higher salaries and better quality benefits (Godard & Frege, 2013). Labor union give a collective voices to negotiate the terms of employment for their members. Labor unions give their members a better quality of life than non members of labor unions (Flavin & Shufeldt, 2016). Members of labor union are more satisfied with job because they feel more secure in their positions. Collective bargaining agreement and labor contracts provided long term employment and financial stability for its members. Unions give employees a platform to directly speak to upper management about issues or concerns in the workplace. Labor unions help employees create long term relationships inside and outside the workplace.
My first reason supporting the motion that workers should be allowed to strike is in order to bring to the fore poor safety conditions. For instance, in the nuclear power industry, any breaches of safety can have tragic consequences. If the employees are exposed to nuclear material, this could lead to serious illnesses such as cancer, leukaemia and radiation sickness. Radioactive material could also affect residents of the surrounding area, as in the case of the Chernobyl disaster. In the light of poor safety conditions, workers striking can be justified by the fact that the government and public would be informed.