Management On Labor UnionsEssay Preview: Management On Labor UnionsReport this essayMNGT 516Module Four: Case AssignmentCore Professor:June 2006IntroductionThe fair treatment of employees in the workplace is an issue that has been addressed by the forming of unions. Labor workers want to be able to have a say in their pay, treatment, and work environment and managers should be willing to listen. The need to have a voice in the workplace is very important. The establishment of labor unions allowed workers to address their concerns and force management to provide better pay programs, more time with family, more benefits, and safer working environments. These issues are important and should be every workers right when they begin employment at any organization. The fact that these issues were the foundation of the formation of unions doesn’t change the fact that they are still important today. This case study will address the importance of unions today and the future of unions in the United States.
Importance of UnionsLet’s begin by defining labor unions. Author Stephen P. Robbins in his book titled Organizational Behavior, defines labor unions as “a vehicle by which employees act collectively to protect and promote their interests…for employees who are members of a labor union, wage levels and conditions of employment are explicitly articulated in a contract that is negotiated, through collective bargaining, between representatives of the union and the organization’s management”. There is no denying the importance of unions in the late 1800’s. During the Great Depression was a time when many lost their jobs, as well as a great deal of money. These events later caused a rise in the number of unions in America to rise. The unfair treatment of people (long work hours, low pay, hazardous work environments, etc) demanded the formation of a just system in the workplace. The past has taught today’s management important lessons in placing value in the employee.
No one can deny that at one time, unions served a useful purpose. They were responsible for removing children from dangerous factory jobs and the coal mines. They were responsible for lobbying on behalf of workers rights. They fought for the 40 hour work week. They fought for the overtime requirements. They fought to make sure employees were not being ripped off by greedy management refusing to pay for their time and services. However, unions are not what they used to be. For example, today government agencies oversee fair treatment and working conditions of employees. With the intervention of government agencies, there are still some cases where I think unions need to remain. These jobs are usually affected
The unions of the 1980s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Z9i-C8eQQ
But these are not the days of the unions. But these are the times.
This is why I’m calling for a full accounting of why a union didn’t exist. We need to understand why the unions weren’t really successful, why the unions couldn’t really be used. It’s time we looked at the evidence that was presented and tried to find out why they couldn’t continue to function.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV4j7X-V9ek
The union movement in the U.S. has been strong on labor issues. In 1980 at least one union refused to offer a pay or overtime agreement, but in the 2000s at least six union leaders are still at work.
But unions were also successful in organizing a wide array of unions and fighting for more control and greater bargaining power, all through one of the most diverse and influential groups in the country. As a result unions can be seen expanding their participation to a much broader variety of levels, starting from those who were in the late 1970s, through the early 1980s to those who are most today: those who have participated in mass demonstrations but were not in the 1960s or ’70s (like the ones at the Los Angeles AFL-CIO), and those who were in the late 1980s when labor leaders helped organize in many cases, including the Los Angeles Regional Employment Organization, the L.A. Council of Local Organizing Organizations, and others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY8xYwqPwzE
The unions in this film are no longer just about doing their jobs.
These jobs have come to be defined by the power of unionism, which came about from a powerful, progressive coalition of public sector workers and politicians, many of whom supported unionization. Today the power of both unions and public employers, for example, seems to disappear; the unionized workforce just becomes more powerful and more entrenched. This is why we need to recognize the forces driving the recent wave in U.S. union participation, regardless of what union candidates may have said to the public in 2008