Employee Relations

This essay will look at various methods that have been used in the historical and modern context to give employees ‘voice’ which include Voluntarism, Trade Unions (TU’s) and

To achieve a distinction grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass and merit criteria, the learner is able to:

Human Resources practices have also impacted on unions as managers within a workplace are encouraged to now work directly with their employees, rather then including a third party such as a trade union ( Balnave et al, 2007, pg 169). Because of this, trade union members will continue to decline

The validation of racism as a current problem needs to be brought forth by minority union representatives to help lay the foundation for resistance against racist labor unions. In the 2000s, the downplaying of racism in the unions has alienated many minority members that are not being presented during negotiations. The very fact that racism seems to be disavowed as a problem in the unions is one way in which minorities are actively pursing a more open and transparent debate about racism as a current issue in the 21st century. Oikelome (2006) defines one panel debate on racism in British unions, which exposes these factors through the testimony of Mary

One side supports the idea of building unity among workers, irrespective of their races. However, there remains parts of the old view that are opposed to immigrant workers, especially undocumented workers. These can be best explained by three general patterns: Exclusion, Modified inclusion and Inclusion. The xenophobia phenomenon and racial discrimination also play important roles in establishing two opposing ideas among organized unions in the United States.

From this perspective, trade union is perceived not necessary and the role of it is creating conflict, and it is seen an unwelcome intrusion into the organization from outside competing with management for the loyalty of employees (Rose, 2004). Trade unions exist either as the result of wickedness or perverseness of individual employees, or because of a failure of management to anticipate and incorporate worker needs and concerns (Bray, Deery, Walsh and Waring, 2005).

Individuals have been at work for thousands and thousands of years. Over the last century there have been many changes in the United States that protects workers in their positions and the duties they perform. There has been many changes for employers as well that protects companies and organization and offers beneficial information to keep them in compliance with changes and away from any from and form of discrimination. Over the last century there has been the organization of Unions (Bargaining Unit) in which are to protect workers in their positions, give them fair marketable pay and be the liaison between the employer and employee. Union organizations represent employees and negotiate contracts that

An employment relationship describes the dynamic, interlocking economic, legal, social and psychological relations that exist between individuals and their work organizations. Palgrave Macmillan (2013), Glossary [online] Available at: < http://www.palgrave.com/business/brattonandgold/glossary/glossary.htm> [Accessed 17th September 2013]. Factors that impact on this relationship both have a detrimental effect to the running of a business. I will focus on two internal and two external. These being:

“Collective voice achieves what a lone voice could never do”. Collective representation is also the foundation of a partnership relationship between employers, employees and unions that bring positive benefits for the business (Prosser, 2001).

With globalization,many changes have been brought up in the workplaces that are leading towards more flexibility and enrollment of the employees (Tong Fay and Anil Verma,2002). “According to a survey -unionized workers across Canada earned$5- 28/hour more than non-union workers; Women with unions earned more too and got paid more fairly (Why unions? ,2015)”. Thus ,it gives us an idea what changes are being brought about by the unions in comparison to non-union when it comes to the wage sector. The union workplaces give a chance to the members to bargain for their benefits which includes not only social well being but also the say,the right to speak up about their own views therefore giving them the chance to talk about their problems. The union have been progressed to give a fair wage

Besides, power imbalance between employer and employee in the workplace seems to be unavoidable. As noted by Wilkinson et al. (2014), employees are citizens who have the right to be informed and consulted; therefore, the aim of employee voice is to communicate with management and express employees’ concerns about their work situation. Nevertheless, in recent years, decreasing union density has gradually shifted the form of voice in most organisations and countries from collective and unionized channels to direct and individualized mechanisms (Wilkinson et al., 2014).

David Brody argues that the rise of contractual or collective bargaining relationships during the post WWII era formalized the relationship between employers and unions. The use of collective bargaining agreements to resolve workplace disputes weakened unions and the power of workers. Other actions, such as using collection bargaining as a form of substitution for direct action and using it instead of the strike for grievance and arbitration procedure served , also has weakened the unions and the power of workers. The rise of contractual or collective bargaining relationships changed the dynamic of the workplace, shifting the power from the union side to towards the employers. The perspective could best be argued suing Weber’s theory and

The author currently consults in employee relations, organization change, and development. His clients include both private and public sector organizations.

Within nearly every organisation or company conflicts occur from time to time, between the employers and the employees. This paper argues what kind of conflicts

In the endogenous-cyclical model, change occurs because of the competing drives of the actors. For example, IR is said to be both adversarial (due to the competing interests) and cooperative (due to interdependence of the parties). Thus IR will oscillate between adversarial and cooperative mindsets depending on the context as the limitations of each approach become apparent to both management and workers. In the endogenous-disjunctive model, change occurs as a result of strategic choices of the actors within the employment relations. For example, as a result of unions’ traditional marginalization of women’s and minorities’ issues, there has been an increased mobilization of women and minorities within unions. In the endogenous-gradual model, change is gradually driven by forces internal to IR. This model stresses the maturing of IR institutions over time, as they become more