Unions, mostly referred to as trade unions or labor unions, are organization of employees or workers in several industries within the United States. Several economies around the world also have unions that agitate for several issues that affect employees. The general arrangement is that employees in the same industry of an economy come together to select some persons among themselves who will represent their issues to senior management. The idea of having a united front representing the entire workforce became a plausible idea and thus several industries have adopted this idea. Unions have therefore expanded in terms of the members and the geographical presence where they influence. Large unions have more members to represent and therefore play a more nationalist role in policies and government guidelines with regard to labor laws. Big unions have also played much bigger and important political roles in several countries. Today, most nations have undergone revolutions and change of regimes due to the efforts of the labor unions. This paper reviews the role of trade unions in the United States. The paper will also examine the role Human Resource management and the government with regard to workers.
General roles of labor unions
Labor unions were formed with the sole reason of pushing for better working situations and environments that best suit the employees. This implies that labor unions have an expanded role to play on behalf of its members. One of the major roles that labor unions play is to agitate and ensure that wages and salaries paid to its employees are increased. In the United States, the biggest labor union is the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). This is an umbrella of labor unions in the country and has represented several industries in Congress and other such federal and state units. The other umbrella of unions is referred to as the Change to Win Federation. It suffices to assert that these organizations have done an exemplary job in fighting for good pay and packages for the American employee. Voos, (2009) argues that some conservatives blamed the trade unions for the 2008 crisis where many of the employees had to be relived from work due to the high wages. Two of the biggest car makers blamed the cost of employees and wages on the lack of short term funds to meet their obligations. For this reason car makers had to be bailed out by federal government funds.
Other roles of the trade unions include working for an equitable working environment for its members. Labor unions also play the key role of mediator between the employer and the employees on other matters not just limited to pay and funds.
Increased role of Labor unions
Bennett & Kaufman (2007) argue that labor unions should start shifting focus from the just increasing wages and salaries to a more competitive oriented organization structure. The focus on increasing salaries has created unions that do not consider other aspects of the workplace. For instance, DiNardo & Lee, (2004) illustrate that the ever increasing difference between the high income workers and the low earning worker would never be reduced by simple percentage wage increases. The middle in the United States is the group that relies mostly on these trade unions. However, during the recent economic crisis of 2008, it was the middle class that was most hit by the credit crunch. This then implied that most middle class Americans relied on credit facilities rather that stable financial foundation based on capital. This then means that most of America’s income goes to the wealthy of the Americans population that is composed of about 10% percent of the population. For this reason, labor unions now have to increase their role in the economy.
Human resource management and their role
HRM also have a big role to play in assisting labor unions towards providing good employment terms for the employees. For instance, ensuring that HRM takes into account a means of communication between the union and top management would ensure a smooth flow of information. The HRM has the responsibility of informing board of management any concerns raised by the unions.
Government
The United States government has an important role to play in supporting unions. The government has the role of popularizing and insisting on workers joining unions. The United States lags behind in the percentage of employees who are members of labor unions . Thus, the government should advise its workforce to join unions and actively participate in improving their working conditions.
Conclusion
Unions have a role in representing the interest of employees. This responsibility is upon the union leaders and therefore these leaders should display a high level of selflessness and commitment. The government and HRM should also strive to make the wok of the union shave meaningful result.
Bennett, J. T., & Kaufman, B. E. (2007). What Do Unions Do? A Twenty-Year Perspective. New Brunswick, NJ, : Transaction Publishers. .
DiNardo, J., & Lee, D. (2004). Economic Impacts of New Unionization On Private Sector Employers: 1984-2001. Quarterly Journal of Economics , 119-127.
Voos, P. B. (2009, March 10). How Unions Can Help Restore the Middle Class. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from www.epi.org: http://www.epi.org/publication/how_unions_can_help_restore_the_middle_class/
