Trade Unions: Importance in the Modern World

Introduction

Unity among employees is crucial for their economic empowerment and community development at large. Social institutions like labour organizations enhance unity and drive society towards achieving its goals. Globalization and revolution in agricultural and other sectors have led to the establishment of large corporations crucial for the economy. Although employment is a source of economic income and freedom, some employers exploit their employees. Labour exploitation occurs in different forms, including poor compensation and unhealthy working conditions. Therefore, labour organizations have been formed to foster and fight for better working conditions and remunerations among its members. However, various factors like global competition and deregulation in traditionally unionized industries have led to a deterioration in the number of union members. Although trades unions are significant among employees, there is a rapid decline in union membership.

Concept of Employment Relations

A positive and cordial relationship between employees and their organizations is crucial for business success. Therefore, employment relations involve creating and maintaining an effective working relationship between a company and its employees (Kelliher, Richardson, and Boiarintseva, 2019). Organizational culture is crucial for employee relations since it defines the organization’s values and ethical code. The organizational culture is defined as the proper way to behave within an organization (Groysberg et al., 2018). Companies create a conducive organizational culture by establishing values that are communicated and reinforced through various methods (Kelliher, Richardson, and Boiarintseva, 2019). Any company’s culture is formulated to shape employees’ perceptions, behaviours, and unity. Consequently, many organizations depend on organizational culture to define their experiences, expectations, values, and philosophy.

Effective employment relations can lead to a conducive working environment that bolsters a company’s performance. The employees and employers formulate an ethical code that guides individual behaviour when interacting with the business stakeholders. An ethical code refers to the set of principles that guide organizational decision-making and policies (Davies, Haugh, and Chambers, 2019). A conducive organizational culture involves adherence to the ethical code creating a good employee-employer relationship. Meanwhile, companies define their social values by developing favourable policies and by taking part in social activities. Therefore, employments relations involve the intrinsic relationship between employees and employer and a company’s socially responsible activities.

Theoretical Framework

Unitarist

Unitarism is one of the different employment relations approaches that help understands the rationale for the employee-employer relationship. The approach involves the members of an organization having a common interest and being homogenous (Behnam, Sato, and Baker, 2021). According to the theory, the employees and employers work towards achieving a common goal set by the organization. Consequently, the companies depend on the unity of the management and the employees. Companies that adopt this approach encourage the unity of purpose and discourage disunity that may be caused by the conflict of interest of individual members of the organization. Like any other approach, the Unitarist approach has several advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

While the Unitarist approach is beneficial for companies, it has various disadvantages that may discourage organizations from adopting it. The primary advantage of this approach is the promotion of cooperation and unity among the organizations’ stakeholders. Unity is crucial since it fosters trust and proactiveness among the employees. This, in turn, promotes creative thinking and problem solving that bolster organizational growth. Moreover, the unitarist approach fosters organizational loyalty that helps the company establish an excellent reputation. Therefore, the unitary approach allows employees and employers to develop a sense of working together towards the achievement of an organization’s mission and vision.

Disadvantages

Organizations with a unitary approach enjoy unity and trust among employees that contribute to their success. However, the approach denies the legitimacy of conflict despite the employees’ and employers’ interests (Behnam, Sato, and Baker, 2021). Moreover, the approach presents possible miscommunication between the employees and employers and consequent misunderstanding during task execution. Therefore, the approach limits companies from strengthening employee relations performance (Behnam, Sato, and Baker, 2021). Although the unitarist approach fosters unity and cooperation among employees, organizations adopting the approach are subject to employer-employee miscommunication and misunderstandings.

Pluralism

Unlike the unitarist approach, pluralism focuses on different sub-groups’ interests that can lead to conflicts within an organization. Therefore, the pluralism approach recognizes the importance of conflict and negotiation within an organization. Organizations are made up of persons from different social backgrounds and interests. Consequently, conflict among the employees and between the management and employees is inevitable. Organizations with diverse employee relations adopt the pluralism approach to think about the possible conflict and get solutions to them. Moreover, firms utilize pluralism to have an agreeable solution that benefits the employers and employees. This approach has several advantages and disadvantages that can either build or destroy a company.

Advantages

Excellent brand reputation solely relies on the company’s ability to solve internal conflicts. Often, the employees and employers find themselves in situations that may lead to conflicts. Disagreements among a company’s stakeholders may lead to ineffective business operations. Consequently, the various business stakeholders can be affected. The pluralism approach encourages negotiation as the mode of conflict resolution among the employees and employers (De Prins, 2022). The approach encourages each party to present their consideration and be ready to compromise for the benefit of the entire organization (De Prins, 2022). Therefore, the approach is crucial for organizational conflict resolution. Moreover, the approach recognizes different firm stakeholders to promote diversity and a cordial working relationship. Pluralism encourages negotiations and limits employee exploitation by an authoritative employer.

Disadvantages

While pluralism encourages negotiation between employers and employees, it is subject to several limitations. The approach presents a significant imbalance of power between capital and labour (Kaufman et al., 2021). While the approach promotes negotiation as a conflict resolution mechanism, the firm’s management has the authority to propose a solution when negotiation fails. Therefore, the management may develop solutions that are favourable to them and ignore employees’ interests. The excessive power possessed by the management may lead to frustration among the employees. Consequently, the employees may inadequately present their problems during negotiations for fearing the management. Although pluralism encourages diversity and negotiations, the approach is limited to imbalanced power between the management and the employees.

Trade Unions

Advancing and protecting employee interests at an individual may be difficult. Therefore, various workers have come together and formed organizations that advance their interests in the workplace. A trade union is simply an organization formed by workers with a common interest and is independent of any employer (Tapia and Turner, 2018). They formed trade unions to develop a close working relationship with the employers in form of a partnership agreement (Tapia and Turner, 2018). Employers negotiate with trade unions over their members’ pay and working conditions. Moreover, the unions are significant for ‘collective bargaining’ meaning that formally recognised trade unions can negotiate with employers over terms and conditions in favour of their member employees (Tapia and Turner, 2018). In the UK common trade unions include the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, Musicians’ Union, and National Association of Probation Officers. Therefore, trade unions act as intermediaries for employers-employees negotiation.

Importance of Trade Unions

Health and Safety

Different organizations have different working environments that can be hazardous to employees’ health and safety. Chemical processing companies have chemical plants that are dangerous to human beings. Some of the chemicals may cause long-term health effects, and others may lead to instant death. Meanwhile, manufacturing companies and companies dealing with heavy and delicate materials are risky to the employees. Many companies have been involved in cases of risky working conditions that led to the injury or death of employees. The trade unions, with better negotiation capacity, advocate for healthy and safe working conditions. The unions are involved in insurance policy formulations and may push companies to provide hardship allowance to employees.

Legislation

Policy formulation is an intense process that involves all the stakeholders. Moreover, although the legislative arm of the government makes laws, it seeks advice and proposals from different organizations and persons likely to be affected by particular legislation in the making. Consequently, trade unions present the interest of employees during the legislation making process. The unions provide their opinions on the effects of particular legislation on the welfare of the workers. In the UK the trade unions are regulated under The Trade Union Act of 2016. The Act regulates the participation of legal trade unions in taking industrial actions and conducting their duties (Seifert, 2021). Moreover, the trade unions also involve companies in formulating worker policies and suggesting possible amendments to the existing policies. Therefore, trade unions are significant during legislation and policy formulation.

Minimum Wages

The employments sector is associated with underpayment and employee exploitation. Many companies in Germany have been accused of underpaying their employees. Although underpayment can be associated with hard economic situations, some companies underpay their workers to increase their profits. For instance, the German airline Lufthansa underpays its workers as it struggles to remain afloat in the business (Ewing and Abdul, 2020). Although the company received government subsidies, some of the workers especially the SunExpress crew members remained underpaid (Ewing and Abdul, 2020). Trade unions intervene in such situations and negotiate for minimum wages. The unions involve all stakeholders including the government that formulates minimum wages policies. The minimum wages are significant among employees who continue to earn reasonable salaries amid economic hardships.

Retirement Benefits

Active and longer life after retirement is associated with the economic empowerment of retired workers. Many insurance companies and social organizations foster pension plans for workers. The trade unions are not only beneficial to the worker during their working period, but after retirement from the work (Seifert, 2021). The UK Trade Unions Act 2016 allows the UK unions to lobby for favourable pension plans (Doellgast et al., 2021). Moreover, the unions can initiate a retirement claim in court in favour of their members. Some trade unions have encouraged their members to subscribe to a saving plan that helps them upon retirement. Consequently, workers whom subtribe to trade unions have financial benefits upon their retirement from employment.

Decline in Union Memberships

Although the trade unions play a significant role in employment relations, many unions have recorded a declining number of their membership. For instance, in the UK the percentage of employees who are members of trade unions has declined from 32.4% in 1995 to 23% in 2019 (Mitrefinch, 2021). The rate is predicted to go as low as 16.32% in 2050 (Mitrefinch, 2021). Germany is experiencing a similar trend where the number of employees who are members of a trade union is as low as one employee for every five employees (Vandaelle, 2018). Although there is no sufficient research done on the cause of the declining membership of the trade unions, various factors have contributed to the menace.

The availability of alternative means for advocating for safe and healthy working conditions has led to many employees opting out of trade unions. For instance, technological advancements, through social media platforms, have created spaces where employees can anonymously present their predicament. Many governments like the UK have legislations like the National Minimum Wage Act that protect employees’ interests. Consequently, the case of underpayment among the companies is few. Moreover, some trade unions have tough membership rules that shy employees away. Additionally, the failure of the existing trade unions to protect employee interests has discouraged employees from joining them. Therefore, the availability of alternative platforms, advanced legislation, tough membership conditions, and trade unions’ failure have led to a declined number of members among the trade unions.

Stemming the Decline of Union Membership

Various strategies have been developed to counter the diminishing membership rate among the trade unions. Some trade unions have integrated technology into their activities to enhance efficient services. For instance, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain has developed a website through which employees can join and track their union’s activities. Trade unions have introduced a wide range of services including social benefits such as loans to empower their members economically. Consequently, employees are attracted to such trade unions because of the extra benefits. Moreover, most of the unions in the UK and Germany have favourable policies including affordable member subscription fees and fair membership conduct rules. The fair policies encourage employees to join the unions

Moreover, some trade unions have formed a partnership with insurance companies and other large corporations. Such partnerships allow the members to enjoy efficient services when accessing insurance policies or during job promotions. Increasing civilization and globalization have led to a decline in the rate of employee exploitation. Consequently, some trade unions have transformed into organizations fighting for interests beyond employment relations. For instance, some trade unions foster women’s rights in various companies. Therefore, integrating technology, expanding service lines, and formulation of fair policies help trade unions retain their members.

Conclusion

Employment promotes diversity, socialization, and economic empowerment within an organization. However, conflicts and disagreements between employers and employees are inevitable. Consequently, companies have adopted various approaches to promote negotiation and unity among the employees and employers. Unitarist approach enhances unity and working towards a common goal within an organization. Meanwhile, the pluralist approach promotes negotiations between employers and employees. With increased civilization, trade unions have been formed to promote employees’ safety, health, minimum wages, and fair legislation. However, many trade unions are experiencing a rapid decline in their membership numbers. Consequently, measures like affordable subscription fees have helped in retaining membership among trade unions. Therefore, trade unions are significant among employees and measures should be taken to counter their declining membership.

References

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