Employment 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

Over the last two centuries the relationship between organizations and their employees have changed as the result of interactions between the two groups and in response to changing governmental legislation. During this period, labor unions arose to advocate for workers and address the inherent power imbalance between individual workers and organizations (Thornton, 2013). In workplaces were unions represent employees, Foss (2008), defines labor relations as the “ongoing interchange between the union and the employer that identifies their common and specific interests and creates mechanism to clarify, mange, reduce and resolve conflicts over their specific interests” (p. 1). The legal framework governing the practice of labor relations is

“An Employee Representative or an official … shall be allowed to enter the workplace … to assist with representing an employee(s)

Employers initially resisted unions as they were seen as a ‘tool of worker power’, and some countries even banned the groups all together (Baoill 2011). Although these restraints have been lifted, restrictions and guidelines have been put in place by government bodies to govern union activity; and employees internationally have the right to form unions (Baoill 2011).

The legal system plays a vital part in balancing the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees. The extents to which these rights and responsibilities are adequately balanced by the law are lacking in certain areas and as a result non-legal avenues of maintaining this equilibrium are pursued. The legal system attempts to provide sufficient guidance for workplace related issues in the reform brought about by the 2009 Fair Work Act (Cth) and the regulations it has implemented. However, whilst issues such as discrimination, safety, leave and Termination of employment highlight the significant deficiencies of the legal system, they also serve as evidence of the substantial effort of the law in providing justice for employees and employers. The legal system makes is vital to ensuring a safe and just environment in the workplace however further

This essay will answer the three essay questions put forward. Firstly, it will briefly explain what is meant by employer militancy. It will outline the main features of the aggressive approach adopted by employers in their relations with trade unions since the 1980’s. Secondly, this essay will describe the changes in employer actions towards unions. It will outline the different phases that have

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).

Unions challenge oppression, inequality and discrimination as they fight for what they believe in (Hyman, 2002, p. 10). If they feel like an individual is being treated unfairly, voices can raise a lot of awareness. An example in the reading was working class families in Cape Breton coals town shared interest in improving wages and conditions (Black, 2012, p. 148). This shows that in other parts of the country wages, working conditions and health/safety environment are problems that need attention. Worker centres can help address a range of issues such as working conditions and wages (Black, 2012, p. 146). Worker centres are a great facility which can help many individuals with their issues. It’s shocking that Americans consider unions as a negative factor that is making their economy fall down (Kristof, 2015, para. 10). Unions have their ups and downs, but unions help the economy get better and doesnt bring the economy down. Richard B. Freeman stated that “unions bring important benefits to industries, which can improve morale, reduce turnover and provide productivity improvements” (Kristof, 2015,

Industrial relations → management of employees: pay rates, encouraging union representation, individual contracts or wage agreements with whole workforce

A review of the major parts of National Labor Relations Board was enlightening particularly in regards to “the rights of private sector-employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages or working conditions” (National Labor Relations Board, Retrieved 2015). Specifically, the rights of employees to confront an employer about wages without a union was interesting. Although the majority of employers protect themselves against this practice by incorporating a clause in the employee rules and regulations that prevents the discussion of wages and salary among workers and/or coworkers.

Since the dawn of time there has been a power struggle in connection to employer and employee relationships. The struggle has been shown over time from the lords of the land collecting dues/taxes from their servants to masters owning slaves and thrashing them into submission. Unionization, workers fighting for their rights and freedoms, has been in evolution for many centuries. Workers have had to fight for everything that we as a society take for granted today. From the Charter of Rights to the Employment Standards Act, the workers have fought for every inch they have gained in rights. Workers gave their lives in unfavourable working conditions, which lead to our Occupational Health and Safety Act. Employees having

This essay will argue that the concept of ‘worker’ defined under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act (“ERA”) 1996 is board; however, due to the undefined scope of section 230(3) of ERA 1996, employment tribunals and the courts have adapted a rigid approach in their interpretation; that there is a ‘high degree of legal uncertainty’ as established in this area of law; that the law does not adequately deal with non-standard forms of ‘workers’; present proposals for reform by the UK Parliament on the interpretation and application of law at common; and finally provide a conclusion for the arguments put forth.

This article examines union response to employee’s needs and concerns. The writers finding suggest 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 given exposure to a broader set of organizational issues than those normally covered during 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 and encourage

Aim Objectives Provide an overview for the presented discussion on employee voice Identify voice practices which represent an example of direct employee involvement and an example of representative participation Primary Research Methods Desk based research Analysed and assessed information; data and presented in report format Internet research focussed on Employee Voice Practices, Human Resource Management, Employee Involvement and Employee Participation, Unionised and non-unionised workplaces, Trade unions and collective bargaining Journal articles including Dundon and Wilkinson (2006), Employee Participation, chapter 15; CIPD (2005), (2009); Glover (2001), Communication and

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).