How Union Commitment On Public Sector Job Satisfaction

Unions are still very relevant in the United States. Labor relations remain an important competency for HR professionals despite the long-term

Prior to the 1950s, American public sector workers could not join unions. Because of job security and reasonable benefits, it was considered unnecessary for public sector workers to unionize and collectively bargain with their government employers. However, in 1958, Robert F. Wagner, then mayor of New York City, signed an executive order granting city workers the right to unionize. Other local and state legislators followed suit, allowing public sector workers the right to join unions. In 1959, the state of Wisconsin passed the first state law granting the right to public sector collective bargaining after extensive campaigning in the state by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (Fraser & Freeman, 2011). And in 1962, President John F. Kennedy granted federal employees the right to unionize and collectively bargain. Since then, the expansion of union activity in American government has closely mirrored the decline of union influence and strength in the American private sector (Masters, Albright, & Gibney, 2010)

Platform for self-expression and betterment of relationship : A trade union is the best medium or a platform for expressing worker view, ideas, dissatisfaction towards management. Through a trade union adjustment of differences between workers and employees can be made by collective

I believe that it is important to understand that job satisfaction has an impact on job performance. In my personal experiences I have seen management completely oblivious to the concerns of their staff that had a negative impact on job satisfaction. The text cites 300 studies that found that organizations with

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

Employees generally seek union representation because they feel their workplace rights from their employer are not being met, or that they have an unfair disadvantage in regards to any needs or workplace desires. They turn to unions to help bridge the gap and ease the power differential that exists between employers and their employees. In order for a group of employees to obtain representation, they must undergo an election process to choose their union or decide if they, as a unit, want a union at all. Here, we will discuss the history of and changes to the manner in which employee votes have been counted to determine an outcome in these elections.

Being part of a union gives members the benefit of negotiating with their employer collectively, as part of a group; giving them more power than if they were to negotiate as individuals (Silverman, n.d.). Overall, unions demand fairness which can lead to the unions influencing and changing ‘managerial decision-making at the workplace level’ for decisions in which employees are affected (Verma 2005). Unions are also beneficial to have present in the workplace because their bargaining of better condition will often benefit non-members as the conditions negotiated with management are implemented across the organization with no regard to membership status. Management is also able to avoid union disagreement by benchmarking conditions to that of an already unionized workplace.

Labor Unions were and still are an essential element in today’s businesses. In earlier years, labor unions aided employees by serving as the main voice to their employer. Today, the struggle continues as labor unions help workers by ensuring their voices are heard, their rights are upheld, their pay and benefits are fair and by eliminating injustices. In order to understand what lies ahead for the future state of labor unions, it is important to recognize its history, but also understand current challenges faced that will likely shape the future.

In 1999 the National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) published a essay entitled; Union Corruption: Why It Happens, How to Combat It. The writing was drawn primarily from magazines and newspapers as well as government reports and described the various patterns of union corruption. The essay outlined vast embezzlement, extortion, and in some cases even murder. The conclusion being a discussion of potential ways unions could overcome corruption and uphold legal conduct. Since then unions have indeed made progress in eliminating the prevalence of their criminal behaviors. However, the reality is that union officials are under such extreme pressure from the government that they have no real choice but to clean up their operations.

Researchers in the past have made valuable discovery about employee relations what is the cause of dissatisfaction and satisfaction at work. Companies that want to

Todd (2012) has interviewed employer association representatives and examined their public statements and submissions. From her research, she questions whether the changes to the industrial relations system that employer associations advocate would enhance productivity. With regard to issues such as penalty rates and job security, there is evidence that these relate to cost cutting and enhanced managerial prerogative rather than productivity. Discuss

What is the role of management and unions in society today? How has this changed in the last 100 years?

Success is often impaired due to poor management skills. Poor management skills can lead to negative business consequences like high turnover rates, lack of competency, and union organizing. If a company cannot take time to invest in training and hiring managers with excellent managerial skills, then ultimately, the employees feel the need to unionize; adding to company costs. According to William Adams (n.d.), “The cost of running a unionized shop has been estimated to be 25 percent to 35 percent higher than a non-union operation. These costs do not reflect higher wages and fringe benefits that are paid to unionized employees.” Another problem with poor management is poor compliance with regulatory agencies. If employees unionize, there will be an increase in compliance agencies like Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Equal Employment

As presented by Fossum (2012) a “doctrinaire organization explicitly desires to operate without unions and implements human resource policies it believes will lead to employee resist them” (p 201). At the same time, heavy handed measures to resist union involvment have historically proven to be determental and/or unsuccessful in warting off employee union recruitment and eventual

The relationship between employers and employees has long been the subject of widespread study and debate within the business world. This employment relationship can be defined as a complex system in which social, economic and political factors combine with an employee who exchanges mental and manual labour for rewards allocated by the employer (Encarta Encyclopaedia Deluxe. 2004). Industrial relations and human resource management advocates have traditionally held different views on the subject of organisational conflict. Many authors have argued that organisational conflict is inevitable in most work settings and that the employment relationship is essentially a trade-off ground (Alexander and Lewer, 1998; Deery, Plowman, Walsh and Brown