Positive And Negative Aspects Of Collective Bargaining

A union is an organization of workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving their jobs and the quality of work within the organization. In many occasions, unions help employees of an organization negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours and other work conditions that may arise. Unions have a role because some degree of conflict is inevitable between workers and management (Noe, 2003). In this paper, I will be discussing the impact of unions and labor relations within an organization.

Labor unions were established as a way for workers’ needs and grievances to be heard by management. According to Fossum (2012), “forming a union creates a collective voice to influence change at work” (p. 7). The collective voice of workers in a union holds much more power than any single employee’s voice. It can loudly draw attention to mistreatment or abuse of workers. The organized collective voice of workers demands to be treated in a fair way by its management in terms of wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.

The union will need to engage in intra-organizational bargaining in order to reach a greater consensus as to what is essential to our workers. By going through this process away from the bargaining table, we can come to the table with a firm and unified stance. We indent to do this in a number of ways. First, we can educate workers about how in actuality, their interests are aligned because a victory for the union is a victory for all members. For example, an improved pension plan does not only benefit older workers, but also younger workers because of the precedent that this proposed pension plan will set for their future pension plans. The same is true for job security. We will ensure the workers that we as their union are their agents in their desire to improve their wages and working conditions. This emphasis on unity will increase our relative power and aid us when it comes time for zero-sum bargaining.

        The NEA also supports many more programs for the benefit of public education. The organization provides funds for school and library programs, not to mention that the NEA also

    Since 1881 labor unions have been a part of the US employment infrastructure; influencing the change of working conditions, pay, hours, and the economy. But the usefulness of these unions is widely debated. Are unions helping drive the US economy or are they holding us back?

Lawsuits for sexual harassment, physical abuse, and racial discrimination have grown steadily in the last few decades and can threaten a teacher 's job and reputation. Another benefit is defense against harsh treatment fom board members with petty criticisms through the local collective negotiating. Unfortunately, both are necessities in the education business. These teachers also feel that the NEA is their best hope for obtaining higher salaries and a voice in the administration of their schools. The other group joins because they have to, their school district has agreed to allow a closed shop to exist, where all teachers must pay some level of union dues. Few teachers join because they wholeheartedly believe in the political and social agenda of the NEA. The union is often far left of its membership on many issues. One thing that can be agreed on by everyone is that the NEA is very large, very wealthy, and very powerful. Recently surpassing the Teamsters in size, the NEA has over 2 million members, making it the largest union in America. Past Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander once said that, "After the post office, schools are the most unionized activity in America.

This paper will explore the role of labor unions within the Unites States. The effectiveness of Unions and how they are important for the stability of the American economy. Unions provide many benefits to employees due to the working relationship with management and politicians in the U.S Congress. Some of the benefits that provided by unions are, paid vacations, pensions, an 8 hour work day with breaks and social security benefits. Unions are continually fighting with politicians and the State Government for better benefits. Will discuss the role of HRM’s employee relations within the organizations and what role the government should play.

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.

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).

History shows that there has been conflict of power within the workforce between union and management. This essay will discuss if management should have the right to determine whether a union should operate within their workplace. It is necessary first to discuss the roles of unions and management in the workplace and discuss both points of view on the power distribution between unions and management in the workplace.

A union is an organization of workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving their jobs and the quality of work within the organization. In many occasions, unions help employees of an organization negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours and other work conditions that may arise. Unions have a role because some degree of conflict is inevitable between workers and management (Noe, 2003). In this paper, I will be discussing the impact of unions and labor relations within an organization.

“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).

Collective bargaining is the process by which conditions of employment are negotiated between management, and the labor organization representing employees in the bargaining unit. However, “collective bargaining refers to a situation in which union members and officials meet with an intent to resolve any issues or conflicts, in an attempt to maintain relationships” (Holley, Jennings, & Wolters, 2012, p. 243). The collective bargaining process relies on four aspects: recognition of the meeting, meeting with appropriate parties, bargaining in good faith, and incorporating the reached agreement (Adam, 1997). Nevertheless, collective bargaining activities are governed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA requires bargaining

When we take a look into the organizational environment, two aspects come into play one being the union workplace and the other non-union workplace. Unionized workplace is that where the union negotiates with the employers for an agreement and makes a point that the agreement is followed out. In this agreement,the union talks about its wages, benefits and how their working environment will be. Whereas in a non- unionized workplace, the employer holds the right to make decision for the employees.This paper discusses the differences in the organizational environment of the unionized and non -unionized workplace.

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