Hi, I agree that there two ways to consider the issue of a union member joining the board of executives in a company. From one perspective, the shareholders and owners may not be accommodating to allow the union representative to take part in the activities and decisions of the firm. Also, the participation may result in an ethical dilemma. It may interfere with the objectivity of the union member creating a conflict of interest when it comes to issues involving the corporation and the employees. However, having the union member in the board will assist the firm to tackle problems related to the workers and prevent regular strikes (Fossum, 2008). The difficult query that arises is what exactly should the firm do when faced with the tough decision of whether to include union representatives on the board of executives or not? They should assess the disadvantages and benefits of each side and weigh the potential outcomes.
Personally, I believe that the company will opt not to include union members in the organization’s matters since they have not invested into the business. The purpose of an enterprise is to generate and maximize revenue. The union representative may interfere with the profit-making by influencing the board to provide more compensation or advanced conditions for the employees (Schulten & Zagelmeyer, 1998). A pristine capitalist will; therefore, be against incorporating a union member’s perspective into the organizational decisions and operations. The unions will only serve the interests of their members without considering the position of the enterprise as well as that of the non-union laborers. Unless, the law of a particular state suggests otherwise, unions should not be allowed to have a seat in firm’s board of directors.
References
Fossum. (2008). Labor Relations (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill Solutions.
Schulten, T., & Zagelmeyer, S. (1998, September 27). Board-level employee representation in Europe. Retrieved from European Observatory of Working Life : http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/comparative-information/board-level-employee-representation-in-Europe
