Over the years, trade unions have been charged with the duty and responsibility of representing the interests and the general welfare of a worker or the employees. The term employee benefits include appropriate wages and human working conditions that the employer should provide while the worker if on duty. At the very minimum, all companies and firms have worker unions and trade unions, which are supposed to articulate the issues and matters of the works to the employers (Clegg, Fox &Thompson, 1985, P. 1919). It is regrettable to note and record that the work conditions and remuneration levels have deteriorated and plummeted while workers purport to have representation in the name of a trade union. Some firms and companies do not give their workers proper wages and salaries and also when there are sick they are rarely given sick leaves.
It is excusable on the part of the firms and companies to wish to make profits, by reducing their operational cost, and thus, pay fewer wages to the workers. The trade unions are charged with the duty and responsibility of articulating for better pay for their members (Dunlop, 1950). If the trade union members receive peanuts in terms of payments while the trade union bosses ride the most expensive cars on earth, it points to the direction that the trade union leaders have been compromised. A typical example of how trade unions have been compromised: It is a well-known fact and notion that firms or companies have always avoided labour unrest or civil litigation or cases by “sitting down” with the union leaders. The closed door meetings do not always resolve anything to the benefit of the worker, but the union leaders become the winners in such situations (Oswald, 1985, P. 161).
Winners here imply that they could be bribed and thus compromised to ignore the plight of the workers. What the trade unions ought to do is, to file cases in the courts, whenever the workers are oppressed so that the judiciary can settle that matter. In other instances, the union can call for strikes and go slow, as a means to make the plight of the employees known. But the trade unions rarely pursue these approaches so that the plight of the workers can be addressed. In principle, it is believable that the trade unions have abdicated their principle role by pursuing narrow interests and benefits.
References
Clegg, H. A., Fox, A., & Thompson, A. F. (1985).A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: 1911-1933. Clarendon Press.
Dunlop, J. T. (1950). Wage determination under trade unions. Augustus M. Kelley.
Oswald, A. J. (1985). The economic theory of trade unions: An introductory survey. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 160-193.
