LABOUR UNIONS

Labour Unions

Labor Unions

Introduction

Labor unions are organizations formed by employees for the purpose of using their collective strength to improve compensation, benefits, and working conditions through bargaining; to bring fairness to the workplace through the provision of due process mechanisms; and to represent the interests of workers in the political process. Economists have traditionally viewed unions as functioning as labor market monopolies. Because they raise wages above the competitive levels set by the market, economists argue that labor unions create inefficiencies resulting in the loss of jobs and greater income inequality, in the workforce. For this reason, economists view unions as an intolerable interference in the operation of the market (Booth, 1995).

Discussion

The labor union also plays a crucial role in promoting fairness within an organization and protecting members from being exploited by employers. At the same time, if employers strictly follow the philosophy of positive labor relations, such employers must recognize the significance of labor unions and not weaken the labor union in any way so that the union can manage compensation, benefits and welfare, and conditions of employment fairly. When both parties pay attention to each other, a win-win situation becomes the ultimate goal (Chang and Sorrentino, 1991). However, if the labor union is weakened and cannot truly protect the interests of workers, or if the labor union does not follow the philosophy of positive labor relations, employers may take advantage of or exploit workers. At the same time, workers will no longer trust the labor union as the representative of workers.

Future of labor union

John Lewis, the president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (ClO) from 1935 to 1940, once proclaimed that the “future of Labor is the future of America" (Selvin, 1969). In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower observed that “unions have a secure place in our industrial life. Only a handful of reactionaries harbor the ugly thought of breaking unions and depriving working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice. By the end of the century, however, the Perceptions of organized labor had dramatically changed. Unions no longer represented the future of America, nor did they have a secure place in industrial life. The decades of the 1980s and 1990s were particularly difficult for organized labor. One scholar described those years as "among the worst in this century for unions and workers”. During the mid-1990s, one columnist wrote that the American labor movement had “never been weaker in its 113-year-old history”. Those within labor's ranks even offered harsh criticisms. In 1995, the president of the National writers, Union wrote: “For too many years, the labor movement has been called a dinosaur. This is unfair and almost slanderous—not for labor, but for the poor, maligned dishonor. Due to dramatic change in the business environment, the future of labor unions is in doubts. Five decades back, most of the business was state own and their working condition was not sufficient. Therefore, this factor gave a boost to the labor unions, but ...