Annotated Bibliography On Public Sector Union

Labor unions date to the 19th century.  The three labor unions were created  to improve work life in the factories. Workers had long hours, poor conditions and low wages; while their employers enjoyed vast wealth.  Labor unions are groups of workers and employees who bond together to get safer working conditions, better wages, and reasonable hours.  Most famous union is the American Federation of labor (AFL), founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers.  Labor unions protect the rights of workers in specific industries.  Labor unions tend to be more common in manufacturing, mining, construction, transportation, and the public sector.  Labor unions have been around for a long time.  The earlier unions were called craft unions, consisting of members who worked in the same trade such as carpenters and printers.  Working people need to earn enough to support their families; good wages are a part of that, so are health care, paid sick leave and other rights that make sure that working people can do their jobs and take care of their families.

Everyone’s participation and contribution would make the union more successful. Union’s need people, the more that join the better the benefits, the cost would be less if all employees joined spreading the cost between more people. Members could get much more if there were more members. In order to get more benefits from the union there has to be more members join the union. If all the non-members felt this way there would be no union to negotiate and speak for the members when there are complaints. Non-members and the employer are always against the union at negotiations. They ae admitting the demands formed by the union are not appropriate, and the non-members are not allowed advancements in wages or working environments. The thing to do is join with the members and help make advancement probable. Supporting the union is every member’s responsibility to share equally the cost of the benefits. It is not fair to the members if the non-members receive benefits that the members pay for (SPFPA.org, 2015).

Clark, Paul F. Building More Effective Unions (2nd Edition). Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell University Press, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 15 November 2015

Unions give the opportunity to be represented at all formal discussions between the Employer and an employee (s) concerning any grievances or any personal policy or practices or matters affecting general working conditions of employment. Union representatives have opportunities to ask questions on behalf of the employees that they may not get a chance to do. Within the HHS, union representatives receive official time for the performance of representational functions; “meaning those authorized activities undertaken by Union representatives who are employees of the Employer on behalf of other bargaining unit employees or the Union pursuant to representational rights under the terms of an agreement” (HHS & AFGE

As NZCTU (2010) explains everyone deserves respectful and effective work conditions that offer choice, fairness, and protection. But employee rights are vulnerable to the whims of government and employers. People seek and join unions primarily to improve a problematic situation at work. The collective benefits provided such as support, enhanced pay and conditions, training and education, legal advice and monetary services are another (Tolich & Harcourt, 1999). As well as unions providing these benefits, people are more likely to join if their ideology is left wing oriented (Deery & De Cieri, 1991, as cited in Tolich & Harcourt, 1999). Evidence of this can be seen in Waddington and Whitson (1997) and Tolich and Harcourt’s (1999) studies which looked into why people join unions, with the general reason being, ‘support if I

It took many movements and a lot of hard work for unions to reach where they are today. They have won their rights through the strong number of people that are part of unions. The economy however is changing; it is no longer as it was in the 1900s. Corporations are finding techniques to overcome the power of unions, and to weaken union powers. This research paper will focus on methods that unions are adopting to respond to neoliberal globalization. It will address one of the biggest fear of workers: unemployment. The research paper will also focus on the declination of union density as the result of certain political moves and interests. By examining certain areas that are effecting the unions of our nations, we get to learn the relations between workers and management, the security in a workplace, the power of unions in today 's workplace in Canada, and the exploitation of workers in other countries due to cheap labour. I will firstly explain the term ‘globalization’ in its generic terms and then use Manfred Steger’s “Globalization” to explain economic significance. I will then discuss union density and renewal in Canada. I will lastly then focus on specific group of unions in Canada that have been responding to globalization.

Prerogatives at all levels should take into consideration employers in the nation when it comes to making agreements with them. As such the prerogatives should not take higher priorities in a society with very many and large unions. The employers must be heard and a collective agreement between the different parties should be put into consideration. This explains that those in power should not take the power vested up them as a right, they should ensure that their subjects are well taken care of and their needs met.

L. REV. 199, 203–213 (2010), Jonathan F. Harris, WORKER UNITY AND THE LAW: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT AND THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT, AND THE HOPE FOR THE NLRA'S FUTURE, 13 N.Y.C. L. REV. 107, 112–120 (2009); Harold Myerson, Under Obama labor should have made more progress, WASH. POST (Feb. 10, 2010), http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/09/AR2010020902465.html; Steve Greenhouse, Labor Law is Broken, Economists Say, N.Y. TIMES (Oct. 28, 2010) http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/labor-law-is-broken-economist-says/; Charles J. Morris, How the National Labor Relations Act Was Stolen And How It Can Be Recovered: Taft-Hartley Revisionism And The National Labor Relations Board's Appointment Process, 33 BERKLEY J. EMP. & LABOR L. 1, 15–29, 39–43 (2012); Amy B. Dean, Democrats must have a concrete plan to empower workers, AL JAZEERA (Apr. 23, 2015), http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/4/democrats-must-have-a-concrete-plan-to-empower-workers.html.

Employers and employees have diversified views when it comes to the benefits of unions in the public sector. Nonetheless, there are definitely pros and cons to consider when looking at unions. Being part of a union can bring many benefits. It can bring higher wages and greater access to health benefits. Moreover, it provides job security and promotes collective identity that allows employees as a whole to negotiate wages and agreements in regards to benefits and health and safety issues. On the other hand, being part of a union can be unconstructive. According to Berman, Bowman, West and Van Wart, (2013) “Negative views might dwell on union dues, unresponsive labor leaders, unflattering stereotypes associated with unions, and questionable benefits”

Union revitalisation focuses on varying problems faced by union movements in the industrialised world (Luce, 2015). One particular issue that is of upmost importance is globalisation. With the rise of globalisation, countries have reduced regulations allowing investors to move jobs and money across borders (Luce, 2015). As a result, global migration has spiked, with more than 232 million people working abroad, this has placed migrant workers in a vulnerable position (Luce, 2015). In the U.S., unions have

Trade unions around the world are falling on hard times in the organized workplace. The phrase ‘union live and die at the workplace’ is becoming a reality sooner than later. The likely obituary of trade unions world-wide are declining membership, density collapse, weaken bargaining power, and the lost of prominence and place in polity. Analyses of trade unionism in the literature for some 20 years now have commonly referring to a crisis of trade unionism. Most authors puts it ‘unions under siege’, ‘stagnant and declining’, and ‘experiencing near death’. Touraine (1986, p. 157) for one has argued that ‘movements such as unionism have a life history: infancy, youth, maturity, old age and death.’ Whereas, Metcalf (2005, p. 28) in his analysis

This article examines union response to employee’s needs and concerns. The writers finding suggests that in the short term, unions adopted a strategy of compliance and requirement through the development of hybrid forms of voice, such as staff consultative committees. They further understand that non-union forms of employee representation may not allow employees to express dissatisfaction with the workplace because of employer retaliation. Unions, the research explain would seek to dominate these committees by ensuring that their members were elected as staff representatives, thereby safeguarding the dominance of union voice. The non-union employee representation that was created, however, was constrained as an expression of employee voice. Despite this constrain unions have actively involved in establishing representative structures that give exposure to a broader set of organizational issues than those normally covered by collective bargaining. However, where unions have been weak or entirely absent from the workplace, employers were motivated to instigate alternative voice mechanisms through non-union representative bodies in order to channel dissatisfaction, facilitate communication

The efforts to undermine the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers in Wisconsin led by Republican Governor Scott Walker – and the widespread resistance of unions, workers, and supporters – represents, perhaps, the most important domestic issue in the United States at the moment. The Wisconsin protests have become the center of national media attention as tens of thousands of union workers and their employees crowd the State Capitol. The story certainly deserves the spotlight, as what happens in Wisconsin may very well spread too much of the rest of the nation. However, what is often lost in the storylines is what the protesters really are fighting for in their efforts. According to Governor Walker (R-WI) and many

Labor and work can be easily distinguished between by the products length of stay in the world. These things are unnatural, or artificial. Products, such as houses, desks and phones are examples of things constructed through work. The activity of work provides for a stable world and serves the purpose of creating durability.

The most important reason of work giving satisfaction is, Work is any activity whether is paid or unpaid, that make people a feel the importance in their lives. As Baumeister (1991) stated work gives meaning to people’s lives. Some people, the effort they make performs as their reward as they work for various reasons while others work because of commitment. For example, a military working to defend a country. However, others work so that they