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Labor unions in the workplace
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Recommended: Labor unions in the workplace
A union is an organization of workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving their jobs and the quality of work within the organization. In many occasions, unions help employees of an organization negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours and other work conditions that may arise. Unions have a role because some degree of conflict is inevitable between workers and management (Noe, 2003). In this paper, I will be discussing the impact of unions and labor relations within an organization.
Labor Unions
Labor unions represent workers interests and the collective bargaining process provides a way to manage the conflict (Noe, 2003). More than ever, union employees have come to see unionizing as a way to achieve an effective voice to improve their jobs and the quality of work they provide to the organization. Also, the members of unions have a sense of political power to voice for workers rights. For example, one of the largest unions for Kaiser Permanente is United Healthcare Workers SEIU Local 399. UHW prides itself on being not only the fastest growing union in the nation, but the largest and most powerful healthcare union west of the Mississippi.
Unions may have its pro's and con's with both the employee and employer. Some individuals believe that it is better not to be a member of a union while others believe that they would not want to work in a union-less environment. If an individual works for a large organization, odds are that it would be in his/her best interest to be a union member. ...
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...ice, reducing costly staff turnover, and improving job satisfaction. The Labor Management Partnership is the largest and most complex health care partnership in the United States, with the largest number of unions, operating units, and employees. It is nationwide and covers the greatest diversity of job classifications and skills (www.kp.org).
Conclusion
In conclusion, unions are important because they help employees of an organization negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours and other work conditions that may arise. Unions have a role because some degree of conflict is inevitable between workers and management (Noe, 2003).
References
www.kp.org
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 1e
Raymond Andrew Noe, John R. Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhert, Patrick M. Wright (2003)
www.laborrelations.com
www.ehresources.com
Even though the very purpose of a union is to defend the interest of its members, the company could also use the instrument to promote the official point of views of the company’s management. In clear, the union and the management could work in good intelligence to promote the interest of worker and the interest of the company. Generally, the problem between management and union come when they one as another as an adversary and not as a partner. To be more constructive and create a working atmosphere profitable for both parties, union and company’s management need to work side by side to address real problems. Thus, worker must understand that the best job security for them comes primarily from the existence of the company and so their union should not be a mean for jeopardizing the company’s purposes. Similarly, the management must also understand that he will not achieve his annual goals unless the workers are well treated and the condition of work meet the standards set by official rules and regulations. This is a clear psychological contract between the company and it workers. The success of the company depends heavily on the respect of that psychological contract. Personally, I will play the role of a mediator between my boss and the worker who want to unionize and explain. I will clearly explain to my boss the benefit of having a union in the company and also explain to the worker the necessity to help the company increase it performance by working harder. And the union should not be a tool for undermine the efforts of the management to achieve better
Wallerstein, M. & Western, B. 2000. Unions in Decline? What Has Changed and Why? Annual Review of Political Science. 3: 355-377.
Unionism is the concept that traditionally business, especially big businesses are inherently going to exploit their employees. Therefore, in order to protect themselves, the workers form organizations called unions, in which all laborers who work at a certain craft, or in a certain industry band together. By this process of “joining forces”, the unions gain power in numbers. Unions traditionally try to protect employee interests by negotiating with employers for wages and benefits, working hours, and better working conditions.
The labor union movement over the years has shaped the way individuals work and live for both the nicest and unpleasant. Some would think the unions influence has created a power struggle between management and union leaders. In today’s time, some citizens insist the existence of unions are a must to aid in employee freedom, while others view the labor unions as just another problem in the line of progress. The purpose of labor unions was for employed workers to come together and collectively agree on fundamental workplace objectives. The rise of the union came about after the Civil War- responding to the industrial economy. Surprisingly at the least unions became popular within the 1930-50’s and began to slowly decrease, starting in the 1960’s on to today. Although, the popularity of labor unions has decreased, its importance remains to be evident with politics, journalism, auto, and the public education industries. The objective of this paper is to shine light upon labor unions, taking a closer look at the disputed issues of union ethics, concerns of union diversity, and the opposing viewpoints of labor unions.
History shows that there has been conflict of power within the workforce between union and management. This essay will discuss if management should have the right to determine whether a union should operate within their workplace. It is necessary first to discuss the roles of unions and management in the workplace and discuss both points of view on the power distribution between unions and management in the workplace.
Factories were known for their ill treatment of their employees, long hours and dirty and unsafe conditions. In 1866, unions started to form to improve working conditions for the workers. A fundamental problem faced by democratic societies is as long as people live their lives individually and go their separate ways and be selfish individuals, they are unlikely to meet collectively to resolve issues. There needs to be meaningful unity among people to alleviate this problem to get people obliged to one another, so there is a willingness to sacrifice for shared goals. Bonding of its citizens creates a democracy. Unions seemed to offer the middle class a chance to become a crucial part of fostering institutions of constitutional democracy. The unions have went through several transitions, but have always worked for the working force. I will discuss the history of the various unions, their wins and losses, and the struggle of the employee to achieve democracy in the workplace.
Labor Unions have been around for since the 1750’s. A union is “ a legally constituted group of individuals working together to achieve shared, job- related goals, including higher pay and shorting working hours ( Denisi Griffin 2015)”. Labor unions work with the employees to get the rights that they believe they deserve. The three laws that impacted unions was the Wagner Act of 1935, the Taft-Hartly Act, passed in 1947 and the Landrum Griffin Act of 1959. The Wagner Act was passed to help put unions “on equal footing as managers for rights of employees” (Denisi, Griffin, pg. 246). This law help to set up National Labor Relations Act and helps to administrate union laws. The Taft-Hartly Act of 1947 was passed to “limit union practices ( Denisi, Griffin, pg. 247) “and it also outlawed “closed shop (
In continuation, the concept of labor unions is quite simple. Labor unions have working members fuse together to become a powerful force. This powerful force works to ...
Have you ever wondered what life would have been like if labor unions never existed? Labor unions were originally formed to help improve the worker’s low wages, their horrible working conditions, and lower the hours they work a day. “ Unions are powerful by the power of members acting together, linking arms, figuratively and literally, taking a stand , and forcing their agenda on either their employers or political representatives” ( Asher 650).Unions are only powerful if everybody is working together, if one person does something wrong, the whole organization fails. Labor unions formed after the Civil War as a response to the modern Industrial Economy. Labor Unions impacted workers everywhere by helping increase wages, better working conditions, and better benefits.
Internal disagreements are prevalent among labor unions, and even within the union there remains to be debate about how unions engage. Early ...
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).
Labor unions were established as a way for workers’ needs and grievances to be heard by management. According to Fossum (2012), “forming a union creates a collective voice to influence change at work” (p. 7). The collective voice of workers in a union holds much more power than any single employee’s voice. It can loudly draw attention to mistreatment or abuse of workers. The organized collective voice of workers demands to be treated in a fair way by its management in terms of wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.
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.
Unions have become commonplace in the labor arena. They provide employees with a valuable tool that allows them to stand together against their employer to make sure that their rights are upheld in the workplace. This paper will focus on labor unions with regards to how they work in two very different companies, Ford Motor Company and United Airlines. Also, a brief history will be outlined as well as legislation regarding unions.
At this point in time, our company is non-union and believes the disadvantages of unionization to be greater than those benefits which may come from it. Many of the benefits which are supposed to come from unionization are canceled by various disadvantages. Additionally there are several, negative effects brought on by joining labor unions which should make any employee think long and hard before they begin the process of joining a union.