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What Role Do Trade Unions Play In The Workplace

753 Words4 Pages

Abstract
A trade union is an organization made up of members of workers that seek through collective bargaining with employers to: protect and improve people's pay, improve job security, protect workers against unfair dismissal and other employment issues, and increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work. This paper looks at the roles of trade unions, how unions are shaping relations between workers and their employers in workplaces, and the negative impact of trade unions.
Theoretical background
The origins of the labor movement lay in the formative years of the America, when a free wage-labor market appear in the artisan trades late in the colonial period.
Trade union began in the 19th Century, with the founding …show more content…

Trade union help to ensure the smooth running of businesses. They are playing an important and helpful role in effective communication between the laborers and the management. They provide the support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major problems. The central function of a trade union is to represent people at work, but at the same time they have a wider role in protecting their interests. They also play an important educational role, organizing courses for their members. Reduced membership to clubs and gyms and discounts on shopping with selected stores is also a prominent feature of union activity. Unlike other political organizations, trade unions don't participate in elections. They pursue several methods: industrial, legal enactment, political etc., not just protecting real wages, but also fight for rights and entitlements. They built a host of workers’ rights that include employment security and provide voice to workers both at the work place and in the society. The most consistent feature of unionism is its struggle for the establishment and preservation of labor rights.
There is a moral ground to justify the existence of trade unions as providing voice to the voiceless and introducing justice at workplaces. Unions help to negotiate productivity deals. This means they help the firm to increase output; this enables the companies to be able to afford higher wages. Trades unions can be important for implementing new working practices which improve the

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