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Example research essay topic: Taft Hartley Act Labor Relations - 1,687 words

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IS THERE A ROLE FOR TRADE UNIONS IN THE NEW EMPLOYEE RELATIONS Introduction Human Resource Management is an integral part of any corporation. Organizations are people and, therefore, cannot exist without them. If there is one thing that all corporations are collectively familiar of, its PEOPLE. Human Resource Department plays a significant role, not just in managing people but in boosting the productivity of the organization as well. The HR objectives must always be in line with the companys policy. Most corporations extensively manage HR Department so that it can take care of day to day operations concerning employees.

HR Department helps define the organizations objectives and thus provides context, meaning and direction for the employees work. Without these elements, effective control is not possible. Control includes the ability to deal with employees right to unionize and bargain collectively as an important part of the regulatory aspect of human resources management. Different laws govern labor relations for public sector (federal, state and local government) and private sector employees. Of these, the most significant are the Wagner Act of 1935 and the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.

The Wagner Act (also known as the National Labor Relations Act) gives employees the right to form or join labor unions, to bargain collectively, and to strike in order to secure better economic and / or working conditions. In 1997, the United Parcel Service (UPS) truck drivers went on strike to pressure management to reduce the use of lower paid part-time jobs. The NLRA also prohibits employers from engaging in unfair labor practices such as: interfering with or threatening employees who exercise their rights as guaranteed by labor law; discriminating against employees because of their union representatives concerning employees wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment and attempting to control or interfere with union affairs. The NLRA did not prohibit unfair labor practices by unions.

However, the Taft, Hartley Act, which amended the NLRA, was enacted to counteract union abuses. Under Taft-Hartley, unions cannot. refuse to bargain in good faith threaten or restrain employees in exercising their rights to join or not to join a union, Charge discriminatory dues or entrance fees, and Force employers to discriminate against employees who are not union members. Literature Review According to the Bureau of National Affairs Datagraph, there is currently, about 15 percent of employees belong to unions.

The percentage varies greatly from state to state and across occupational groups. For example, in South Carolina, only about 3 percent of employees belong to unions whereas in New York, nearly 30 percent do. Occupationally, most union members work in manufacturing and government jobs. But this pattern may change in the future. Traditionally, in the United States, relations between unions and management have been contentious and adversarial. However, this condition is gradually changing.

Many union leaders now recognize that, in order for them to achieve their goal of protecting jobs, union-management cooperation and problem-solving are necessary. Similarly, many managers realize that union members can help a company find ways to work more effectively and enlarge their common pie of resources (Bureau of National Affairs. Datagraph: Union membership by state. Bulletin to Management, July 11, 1997, p. 22).

Author Sabel claims that unions are needed. He even thinks that unions are needed more than ever. The widening power of corporations, politicians who value market forces more than human needs or democracy, downsizing are things that endanger the ecosystem. Yet, labor unions are there in order to secure better wages, benefit both the workplace and the members themselves. A big part of what will spell the future of labor unions is when it aligns itself with the global struggle against corporate rule. There is also a need to understand that unions are deeply conservative organizations. (Sabel).

In all these, coordination could be achieved through the use of the human capital in the pursuit of organizational goals. As the complexity of the organization increases, coordination relies increasingly on the use of direct supervision and task standardization. So, with increased organizational complexity comes an increased need to manage human activities including labor unions. Managers are then challenged to meld the demands of the organization and the needs of the workers into a functioning whole. At present, the depth of American labors current weakness is seen as the US now demonstrates the lowest effective rate of unionization in the developed world.

It is said that the US is more union free compared to the other rich nations. The Human Resources Department need the necessary background information that will prepare management and the firm in case a collective bargaining negotiation arises out of their circumstances. Legal Issue The legal issue at hand is the monitoring of the employees movements in case a certification for union recognition is filed with the Labor Relations Board. Management will have to be above board in all their dealings with the employees in accordance with the conditions and stipulations set forth in the Labor Relations Code. Likewise, there is a need to monitor the movements of the employees in order to determine if in fact, they are also following the stipulations of the same Labor Code. Are the employees, therefore, within the legal bounds of the law if they should form a union?

What should management do on its part? Current Legal Status Under Chapter 244 of the Labor Relations Code, all employees are free to become members of any trade union. The trade union may be from a separate union not associated with the company under question, or it may be a union formed by the employees of the firm itself. Under Section 6 of the said Chapter, management, for its part, must not interfere with any of the activities of the employees that may lead to the formation of a union, and that management may not force any employee to join or not to join the said union (Labor Relations Code).

The first step in the employees formation of a company union would be the membership of no less than 45 % of the employees in a separate union. Under Section 18 of the same chapter, if this requirement is met, then the employees may apply to the Labor Relations Board for petitions for certification of election. Furthermore, according to Section 24, after a correspondence for application has been sent to the Board and has been reviewed by it, a representation vote will be conducted within ten days from the day that the Board has reviewed the said application. If majority of the votes are in favor of the formation of a union, then the election is deemed legal and binding, and management should not in any way interfere with its formation. In Part 4 of the said chapter of the Labor Relations Code, the Board shall then provide a written notice to the trade union giving them permission to commence collective bargaining with the firm (Labor Code Review 2005). There have also been recent modifications to this process.

The Industrial Relations Board has, in recent times, made the application and certification process simplified in order to expedite such. It will be noted in the representation vote that should the vote now be less than 35 % of the employees, the application for union certification will be dismissed (Information Circulars 2005). Generally, unionism in developing countries is a house divided against itself. Rudimentary education and lack of experience in industrial labor management problems diffuse the efforts of the workers to express their protests and to realize hopes. In spite of the rapid growth of unions, effective unionism is rare. The greatest obstacle is the apathy of workers.

Unemployment, underdevelopment, and an irregular labor supply often make the collection of union dues impossible and seriously undermine the unions economic position (Stern. and Cornfield 1997). A multitude of small, independent unions view the business world from a feudal perspective. They form many rival federations, based on political affiliation, social ideology, or religious beliefs, which resist amalgamation into integrated labor movements.

Union leaders are usually outsiders, middle-class intellectuals with doctrinaire philosophies who lay greater stress on ideological issues than on the practical problems of wages, working conditions, and productivity. As a result, most of the unions are tied to some political party or religious order and put its interests first. Another type of union leadership comes from the opportunist who capitalizes on the workers predicament and discontent (Stern. and Cornfield 1997). To be effective in wage bargaining, unions must be able to exert enough power to compel recognition and fair dealing from management.

International comparisons underscore the depth of American labor's current weakness. The United States now has the lowest effective rate of unionization in the developed world. And now, as ever, it lacks those other institutions worker-based political parties, mandated works councils or other forms of worker representation inside the firm, or general wage regulation that elsewhere supplement union power. By any measure, we are more union free than any other rich nation. And by any measure, it shows in the lowest level of general social protections (e.

g. , health insurance) and highest level of wage inequality, after-tax poverty (Stern. and Cornfield 1997). Conclusion In sum, whether unions are strongly or weakly political is partially a function of the existence of alternative means of political expression and influence. The overwhelming importance attached to trade union activities by the political parties is a reflection of the importance of the labor movement and its capacity to influence social life. References Brayfield, A.

H. and H. F. Rate (1951).

An index of job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 35, 307 - 311. Cohen, Arthur. Community College Faculty Job Satisfaction. (December, 1974). Springer Publications, Netherlands. Volume 2, Number 4.

pp. 369 - 376. Labor Code Review 2005. Retrieved March 26, 2008 at: web R. and Cornfield, R. (1997). The U. S.

Labor Movement: References and Resources Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Oct. , 1997), pp. 160 - 161 Information Circulars 2005. Retrieved March 26, 2008 at: web Sabel, C. 1987. A Fighting Chance. International Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 17 No. 3. PP: 27 - 56


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