Trade unions can be defined as, “Organization whose membership consists of workers and union leaders, and whose principal purposes are to negotiate wages and terms of working condition, regulate relations between employees and the employer, take collective action to enforce the terms of collective bargaining, raise demands on behalf of its members, and help settle their problems” (Business Directory, 2009).
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Trade unions are generally classified as, ‘company union’ that represents interests of only one firm and may not have any relation with the trade union movement; ‘industrial union’ represents workers of several firms from the same industry; and ‘craft union’ represents skilled workers in a particular field such as carpentry or welding (Business Dictionary, 2009). A working definition of Trade Unions was provided by Sydney and Beatrice Webb (History of Trade Unions, 1920) as “a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment”.
In the view of the above, it can be stated that Trade unions help the employees by negotiating for better income and better conditions at workplace for them which is known as ‘collective bargaining’. The ACAS Code of Practice No2 Disclosure of Information to trade unions, which is based on collective bargaining, provides recommendation on good exercise (Employee Communications and Consultations, ACAS, 2005). They provide information and guidance to its members if they undergo a problem regarding the workplace. A set-up of health and safety representatives is also provided at the workplace by the trade union for both employers and employees. Trade unions are interested in promoting equal opportunities at work and providing consultation and support to their members on the legislation. They run campaigns to protect the rights of the employees and improve their quality of working lives. There are numerous other services which trade unions provides to its member apart from the ones stated above are education and training for a better future and security, financial aid and discounts, and welfare benefits (TUC, 2009).
It has been witnessed in the past that there is a rise in the ratio of number of employers wanting to work with trade unions. TUC today published a report stating that both employers and employees benefit from partnership. Thus a well-built judgement will be analysed in details further which will highlight the fact that management likes to deal with their employees through unions rather than dealing with them on individual basis.
Analysis of the Statement
The employment law system at present is rooted with the roles that the trade unions perform with numerous actions. Advice is given in terms of redundancy, where in, employers need to involve the union in decision-making. The union tries to negotiate pay and conditions terms of employees with the employers and if situation goes out of hand they provide full support to its members in industrial action (Employment Law, 2009). Trade unions provide help to people at work undergoing problems like job loss, grievance, legal procedures and action. Trade unions provide consultation services to its members and employees have now begun to recognise trade unions as employers promote unionism. It has been seen from a TUC report that almost 32% of workplaces recruit people who recognise Trade Unions (TUC, 2009).
In United Kingdom, a large number of industrial sectors and various types of jobs in different sectors which provides the workers support with multiple skills and job description are represented by the unions. UNITE, UNICENT, UK Steel Union are some examples of such unions. Thus the role played by trade union has become well recognized within the employment law system with the presence of a number of policies that leads into consultation with unions regarding issues faced by the management (Employment Law, 2009).
It has also been noticed that places which recognise unions have better workplace environment and conditions then places which are non- unionised. There are health and safety representatives provided by the Union, who help the management to avoid losses from problems like sick leave, lost work and claim for compensation. Unions provide guidance and help to employers to help reduce the level of stress at work. Trade unions, treats its members as equals and protects the rights of people subjected to discrimination. Trade Union provides training sessions for promoting learning to its members. Training helps the workers involved in low- paid and less skilled jobs, as it helps in improving the skills of the labour force. Recently, trade unions have started providing more services to its members. These services attract more members as it satisfies their needs. Services like accident and sickness insurance cover, legal advice on personal issues, financial services and discounts, education and training (TUC, 2009).
Effective communication and consultation should be provided by an organisation for which it has to be structured in an orderly way. Senior managers should take the initiative to draw up such policies and keep in mind to involve the employees. The places where Trade Unions are recognised, the employers must get their conformity before the policy is introduced. To enable members to participate fully in union affairs the Unions help the shop stewards and other officials get time off to maintain healthy relations with the employees as well as with the employers. The employers should be familiar with their duties and provide proper facilities. Trade unions further the interest of the workers in many ways, for instance by campaigning, lobbying governments (Employee Communications and Consultations, ACAS, 2005).
Trade unions have recently started promoting a new concept which is known as learning at workplace. The Union Learning Representatives (ULR) are a group of union advocates who are trained in providing consultation to its members on learning needs and opportunities (GMB @ Work, 2009).
The main aim of the ULRs is to encourage its members to improve their skills, improve the standards of training and development at workplace by counselling, identify the needs of its members, unions and the local authorities on issues related to learning and further discuss it with the employers for consideration to implement it. The ULRs have received recognition, as per the Employment Act 2002, according to which they have the legal right to get paid time off to perform their roles in a proper manner (Prospect: Union for Professionals, November 2009 and Union Learn: Functions and Rights. Sec 3).
A rise in employer dealing with trade unions and not individual employees directly has been witnessed. There is a strong business case which will be analysed in more details. A TUC today report shows that companies which recognise Trade Unions perform better than other companies. TUC General Secretary, John Monks said “This is the most authoritative research so far that shows that unions can be a boon to business. Partnership makes managers take their workforce with them. This is no burden on business but a secret to success.”
The above report states that the TUC had made an announcement that it would open an institute of Partnership. The trade union focussed on partnership, adding value to the union by union membership (in organisations like Unionlearn) and employment law. Unionlearn provides generic services, which can be used by individual unions for their training and learning (Unionlearn, 2009)
The Workplace Employee Relations Survey shows that companies that recognise unions and high commitment personnel practices have a better financial performance and productivity than other companies in the same sector (PR Newswire, April 2000).
There are other surveys which also conclude that the employers attitude towards unions have become less hostile (Poole et al., 2005). The goal of any organisation is to reap benefits. Employers work hand in hand with Trade Unions to gain profits, by establishing a working Partnership with them.
The Employers benefit in a number of ways, when they establish partnership with Trade Unions. Dealing with the employees through Trade Unions is gainful as they are saved from going to the Tribunals with their claims. When Trade Unions are associated with the workforce, it leads to employee satisfaction. As they help their members by negotiating over Pay and other conditions with the management. Thus, in turn is beneficial for both employers and the employees. Trade Unions convey to the workers the agreed terms. The employers do not get involved which in turn, saves their time and they can concentrate on making more strategic decisions. Here, there would be no employer- employee conflict. The employers do not have to deal with large number of employees directly. Therefore, no individual negotiations would be required. The union health representatives work along with the employers to reduce stress at work. No industrial action would be taken by the union. All the trivial issues can be dealt directly by the union (Gennard and Judge, 2005).
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In 1998, the TUC’s Organizing Academy was opened to train officers in the field of recruitment and organizing techniques and to assign them to priority recruitment campaigns recognized jointly by the TUC and member-unions. If the TUC is to maintain a plausible position as a respected representative of labour force, it is believed, it ought to invalidate the two-decade decline in union membership; and this, in turn, will require a reorientation of union activity towards new categories of worker in new sectors of employment (Heery, 1998).
From the above report it can be stated that TUC trained employees and developed skilled workers, which in turn would help the employers to achieve the organizational goal. There are some negative impacts of trade unions as well. The employers cannot give performance related pay and can’t remove the low skilled worker, if he is a member of the union as this would lead to strikes and disputes, which in turn would hamper the production. Sometimes the unions demand more than expected, which is again a problem for the employer. This is the ERA of change and globalization, during this period the employers would want to build good relations with the employees as they are their key resource, to achieve the organizational goals. So the employers must deal with the Trade Unions, as the changes can be made without any repercussions.
“Initiatives that directly involved employees and (significantly) sought to promote higher performance were tending to replace or supplement indirect means of communication like joint consultation. Gradually this process of two-way communication became known as ’employee voice’. It appeals both to that seeking greater business efficiency and to those looking for employee rights” (CIPD, 2009).
As cited above it can be clearly stated that joint consultation included the managers and employee representatives, which included the trade union representative. Agreeing a constitution earlier helped in avoiding conflicts and misunderstandings and thus paved a way for positive business.
I would end the debate by stating that there is a positive business case for employers dealing with their work force through unions. Partnership at work can help bring higher productivity, enhanced performance and flourishing changes to the organization. Whether it is a change in administration or adapting new techniques, dealing with workforce through trade unions has a positive impact in achieving organizational goals. There would be growth in industrial relations as communication and consultation becomes easier. For the employees, more opportunities would be provided for training and development which in turn leads to greater job security and all this leads to sustainability.
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