Trade Unions Decline in the Influence

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Reasons for the Decline in the Influence of Trade Unions
Alternative Strategies for Reversing the Decline
Comparison of the Strategies
Effectiveness of the Strategies
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Trade unions are organizations that are formed by workers who are interested in achieving common objectives or goals in regard to the work conditions at their workplaces (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 5).

The leaders of the unions bargain with the management of various organizations on behalf of the members. The bargains involve negotiating for benefits, work rules, wages, safety policies and complaint procedures. Thus trade unions represent the employees during the negotiations and their main objective is to maintain or improve the workers’ pay and terms of employment.

The unions have three main advantages to the employees and their employers. First, they facilitate communication between the workers and the managers and this enables the former to understand and remain committed to the goals of the organizations (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657). Second, as the work conditions improve due to the unions’ negotiations efforts, the level of job satisfaction increases.

Finally, they drive change in organizations by mobilizing employees to support the introduction of new polices and technologies. Despite these benefits, the influence of trade unions on the decisions of employers has been on the decline in the last 30 years. It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to highlight the reasons for the decline in the influence of trade unions. The strategies that have been used in response to unionization challenges and the effectiveness of such strategies will also be discussed.

Reasons for the Decline in the Influence of Trade Unions

Underperformance of Key Industries

In the last three decades, the industries that were highly associated with trade unions have witnessed significant fall in jobs. The manufacturing industry in the UK had the highest number of trade unions in the 1970s due to the fact that the industry was labor intensive (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657).

Consequently, thousands of workers were employed in the industry and this made it easier for them to form unions. However, the manufacturing industry as well as other labor intensive industries such as the retail sector has witnessed a decline in growth over the years.

The decline in growth has forced firms to reduce the size of their workforce in order to reduce their overhead costs. As the organizations layoff their workers, the trade unions lose their members. Consequently, the influence of the unions has declined as the number of their members reduces (Williams & Adams-Smith 2006, p. 7). This is based on the fact that the unions are likely to have a great impact if they have a large membership (Williams & Adams-Smith 2006, p. 7).

Increase in Unemployment Rate

The economic challenges that have been experienced over the last three decades have resulted into an increase in unemployment rate in most economies. Consequently, existing trade unions have not been able to increase the number of their members due to the slow growth rate in employment opportunities (Hogler 2004, p. 80). The by-laws of most trade unions also make it difficult for the unemployed individuals to become members by restricting their membership to a particular category of workers.

Besides, the unemployed citizens usually find it difficult to pay the monthly membership fees and this discourages them from joining trade unions (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657).

Research in the labor market also shows that the unemployed citizens find trade unions to be less important since such unions focus on the interest of the employed at the expense of the unemployed (Hogler 2004, p. 67). Thus rising cases of unemployment have led to a decline in the influence of trade unions by undermining the growth of the unions’ membership.

Changing Work Patterns

There has been a shift from full-time employment to part-time employment in most industries. This is attributed to an increase in competition and the resulting cost reduction measures. The employees who work on part-time basis are usually considered to be temporary staffs. In some organizations, employees are hired on short-term contracts that are usually not renewable.

Thus the part-time or temporary employees are reluctant to join the trade unions since they do not expect to work for their employers for a long time (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657). Besides, the rising cases of job insecurity have forced workers to accept poor wages and terms of employment instead of bargaining for better pay through unions.

Increase in the Number of Small Firms

The number of small and medium sized organizations has been on the rise in the last twenty years (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 56). Such organizations employ very few workers and this makes it difficult to form unions. Thus the employees of the small firms prefer to negotiate directly with their employers instead of being represented by an organization. This undermines the role of trade unions in representing workers and leads to a decline in their influence (Williams & Adams-Smith 2006, p. 10).

Legislation

Hostile legislation has made it difficult for trade unions to keep their members and to carryout their activities. In the 1970s, employers in most countries were not allowed to take legal action in regard to the damages that were attributed to industrial actions that were organized by trade unions (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 45).

This has since changed and today unions are liable for the damages that are attributed to industrial action. For example, the Employment Act of 1982 in the UK made it possible to sue trade unions if the actions they take are not in accordance with the 1974 Act (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657). The constitutions in most countries currently allow judges to issue injunctions that prevent unions from taking actions such as strikes.

The injunctions are usually issued if the dispute between the unions and the employers are still being heard in a law court. The injunctions can also be issued if the judges believe that the businesses or the customers will suffer due to the actions taken by the unions (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657). These legislations have made it difficult for unions to play their roles effectively thus reducing the influence of the unions.

Alternative Strategies for Reversing the Decline

The trade unions have responded to the above challenges by implementing several strategies. The strategies which have been used include the following. First, the unions have embarked on serious recruitment drives (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 132). They are currently sensitizing the citizens on the benefits of their services in order to encourage more workers to join them.

The monthly subscription fees have also been reduced significantly to accommodate the low income earners who have always avoided the unions due to their financial challenges. The leaders of the trade unions have also revised the by-laws that govern their organizations in favor of policies that encourage more workers to join the unions.

Second, the unions are focusing on the education and training of their members. This strategy is based on the fact that highly skilled workers are justified to bargain for better pay (Williams & Adams-Smith 2006, p. 145). In order to achieve this objective, the organizations are encouraging their members to pursue higher education in order to improve their competence. As the members improve their competence through training and education, the influence of the unions become stronger.

Third, the unions are focusing on forming partnerships with the various employers. The unions and the employers work together on common employment issues such as employee retention programs and staff training programs (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 141). Under such partnerships, the unions sensitize the employers on the benefits of the above mentioned programs while the employers facilitate their implementation. Such partnerships have enabled employers to change their perceptions of trade unions.

This is because they consider the unions to be agents of the change that will lead to increased productivity (Hogler 2004, p. 87). Finally, the trade unions are defending the rights of the workers in various industries. Consequently, the workers perceive the unions as responsible organizations that are concerned with their welfare. This has led to an increase in the membership of most unions.

Comparison of the Strategies

The above alternatives are based on similar objectives which are as follows. First, they focus on the interests of the employees in order to encourage more workers to join the unions (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657). Second, the strategies seek to change people’s perceptions of trade unions.

They aim at convincing the employers that trade unions are concerned with the success of their firms. They also seek to convince the workers that the unions are capable of protecting their rights at workplaces (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657). Finally, the above strategies define the new roles that trade unions have adopted in the labor market.

Unlike in the past, trade unions are currently advising organizations on how to improve the quality of their human capital in order to remain competitive in the market (Hogler 2004, p. 67). This is explained by the partnerships between the trade unions and the employers that enable the two parties to discuss how to improve the productivity of the workers. However, the above strategies differ due to the fact that they have been implemented in different forms by various unions.

Effectiveness of the Strategies

First, the recruitment drives have enabled the unions to increase the number of their members in the last three years. More workers are joining the unions as they realize the benefits of the unions’ services (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 90). Second, the partnerships between the unions and the employers have significantly improved the influence of the unions. This is because the unions are considered to be partners who can “drive positive change in organizations” (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 146).

The increase in consultation between the employees and the managers and the protection of the rights of the workers are the benefits of the partnerships between the unions and employers. Finally, the strategies have been successful in changing workers’ and employers’ attitudes towards unions. This can be proved by the increasing number of workers who are currently joining unions.

In the UK for instance, “44 out of the top 50 Financial Times companies recognize trade unions” (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 167). This indicates that organizations are developing a positive attitude towards trade unions. Despite the above achievements, the trade unions are not as influential as they were in the 1970s. The actions of the unions are currently defensive in nature. This means that they focus on maintain the existing work conditions instead of negotiating for better terms (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657).

Conclusion

The above discussion indicates that unions aim at maintain and improving the existing terms of employment (Fernie & Motcalf 2005, p. 17). The employers have benefited from increased productivity as their workers become satisfied due to the improvement in the work environment (Williams & Adams-Smith 2006, p. 144).

The decline in the influence of trade unions can be attributed to hostile legislation, underperformance of key industries and the economy in general. These factors have made it difficult for unions to operate as well as to increase the number of their members (Machin 1997, vol. 41, pp. 647-657).

The unions have responded to these challenges through “major recruitment drives” (Hogler 2004, p. 67) and sensitizing the workers on their rights in order to increase the number of their members. While these strategies have enabled unions to recruit more members in the last three years, the influence of the unions on the decisions of the employers is still relatively low as compared to the 1970s.

References

Fernie, S & Motcalf, D 2005, Trade unions: resurgence or decline? Routledge, New York.

Hogler, R 2004, Employment relations in the United States: laws, policy and practice, SAGE, New York.

Machin, S 1997, ‘The decline of labor market institutions and the rise of wage inequality in Britain’, European Economic Review, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 647-657.

Williams, S & Adam-Smith, D 2006, Contemporary employment relations: a critical introduction, Oxford University Press, London.

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