INTRODUCTION TO TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Introduction on Trade Unions (TUs)

The classic definition of a trade union is “a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment” (Mette, et al., 2017).

The Trade Union of to-day is often spoken of as the lineal De- scendant of the ancient Craft Gilds (Armstrong & Smith, 2015). There is, however, no direct or indirect connection between the ancient and modern forms of trade combination. Beyond the fact that they each had for their objects the establishment of certain trade regulations, and the provision of certain similar benefits, they had nothing in common." Trade Unions as a Means of Improving the Conditions of Labour," (Oka, 2016).The essential cause of the growth of durable associations of wage-earners must lie in something peculiar to the later centuries (Wittenberg, 2017). In the area of work, there used to be a perspective that recognized the important role that work plays and that emphasized workers’ rights. Trade unions were given recognition and were also resisted, and they were described as lawyers for the public (Räthzel & Uzzell , 2019).

Types of Trade Unions

The trade unions have categorized as Company union, general or industrial union, craft union and white-collar union (Tebetso, 2020).

Functions of Trade Unions

Protection and promoting the interest of workers and glooming the conditions of their employment are the basic functions of TUs. Those are separated as militant, fraternal, social, political and ancillary functions (Kesküla & Sanchez, 2019). 

Introduction on Employee Relations

Employee relations are concerned with managing the employment relationship and the psychological contract. They consist of the approaches and methods adopted by employers to deal with employees either collectively through their trade unions or individually. This includes providing employees with a voice and developing communications between them and management (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). Workers’ perceptions of management–employee relations depend on practices and structures underpinning the relationship between management and employees (both collectively and individually) as well as individuals’ own work experiences (Katz et al., 1985). Employee relations policies express the philosophy of the organization on what sort of relationships are wanted between management and employees and, where necessary, their unions, and how the pay–work bargain should be managed (Armstrong & Taylor, 2020).

A social partnership policy will aim to develop and maintain a positive, productive, cooperative and trusting climate of employee relations (Armstrong & Taylor, 2020). Platform economies and the emergence of new forms of production and employment are making it increasingly difficult to organize workers or to distinguish the employer to bargain with. These developments threaten the traditional model of industrial relations and will be a particular challenge for trade unions (Räthzel & Uzzell , 2019).

Briefly, the formation of trade unions has been done merely to bargain for wage increases. However, with the evolution and transformation of the industry models (manufacturing, service etc.) from traditional nature to the modern, trade union itself has transformed the duties to a broader aspect rather than focusing only on the wages. This has also become a major communication link between the management and ground level employees to bargain their worker rights.

References

Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. United States: Kogan Page Publishers.

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice, 13th edition. London: Kogan Page.

Armstrong, N. & Smith, D., 2015. Cricket. Cetura, Volume 5, pp. 104-107.

Boal, W. M. & Ransom, M. M., 2015. Monopsony in the labor market. Journal of economic literature, 35(1), pp. 86-112.

Katz, H.C. and Sabel C.F., 1985. Industrial relations & industrial adjustment in the car industry. Induatrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 24(3), pp.295-315.

Kesküla, E. & Sanchez, A., 2019. "Everyday barricades: bureaucracy and the affect of struggle in trade unions.". Dialectical Anthropology, 43(1), pp. 109-125.

Mette, J. et al., 2017. “It’s still a great adventure”–exploring offshore employees’ working conditions in a qualitative study. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 12(1), p. 35.

Oka, C., 2016. "Improving working conditions in garment supply chains: The role of unions in Cambodia.". British Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(3), pp. 647-672.

Räthzel, N. & Uzzell , D., 2019. The future of work defines the future of humanity and all living species. International Journal of Labour Research, 9(1/2), pp. 145-171.

Tebetso, T. T., 2020. THE ROLE OF BOTSWANA TRADE UNIONS IN PROMOTING EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN AN ORGANISATION: THE CASE OF BOTSWANA EXAMINATION COUNCIL.. Revue Européenne du Droit Social , 48(3), pp. 118-126.

Wittenberg, M., 2017. Wages and Wage Inequality in South Africa. South African Journal of Economics, 85(2), pp. 279-297.