“A trade union is an independant self-regulating organization of workers
created to protect and advance the interests of its members through collective
action.” Over recent years, it has become fashionable in many quarters to
write off Britain’s trade unions, to label them as obsolete institutions out
of touch with new realities and incapable of change. In today’s world of
individual employment contracts, performance-related pay schemes, Human Resource
and Total Quality Management and all the other ingredients of the so-called
‘new’ workplace, trade unions are often regarded as anachronistic obstacles
preventing success of the market economy. As collective voluntary organizations
that represent employees in the workplace, it is argued, trade unions no longer
serve a useful purpose. The main priority of this essay is to represent the
arguments for and against the relevance of trade unions in todays working
society. Furthermore, I shall comment on the future of the trade union movement,
based upon the facts and findings that helped construct this text. Trade unions
exist because an individual worker has very little power to influence decisions
that are made about his or her job. The greatest advantage in joining a trade
union is because, by doing so, individuals possess more chance of having a voice
and influence in their place of work. By joining forces with other workers, an
individual’s opinions and beliefs regarding their job will also be voiced by
other union members, thus creating a stronger stance against management, if
needed. Therefore, the main purpose of a trade union is to protect and improve
people's pay and conditions of employment. This objective is usually achieved
through negotiation and representation. Negotiation is where union
representatives discuss with management, issues which affect people working in
an organization. The union finds out the members’ views and relays these views
to management. Pay, working hours, holidays and changes to working practices are
the sort of issues that are negotiated. However, not all views will be taken on
board by management; there may be a difference of opinion between them and union
members. Negotiation, therefore, is about finding a solution to these
differences. This process is also known as collective bargaining. “In many
workplaces there is a formal agreement between the union and the company, which
states that the union has the right to negotiate with the employer. In these
organizations, unions are said to be recognised for collective bargaining
purposes.” People who work in organizations where unions are recognised are
better paid, and are less likely to be made redundant than people who work in
organizations where unions are not recognised. Most collective bargaining takes
place quietly and agreements are quickly reached by the union and the employer.
Occasionally disagreements do occur, and in these cases the union may decide to
take industrial action. “If the problem cannot be resolved amicably, the
matter may go to an industrial tribunal.” The purpose of industrial tribunals
is to make sure that employees and employers conform to employment laws. They
are made up of people outside the workplace who make a judgement about the case,
based on the employee’s and employer’s point of view. Cases that go to
industrial tribunals are usually about pay, unfair dismissal, redundancy or
discrimination at work. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
(ACAS) is often used to help find a solution to a dispute, which is acceptable
to both sides. “Its duty under the Employment Protection Act is to promote the
improvement of industrial relations and in particular to encourage the extension
of collective bargaining. Also to develop (and where necessary to reform)
collective bargaining machinery. Its main functions are: advisory work,
collective conciliation, individual conciliation, arbitration, and extended
investigation into industrial relations problems.” Individuals can be
represented by trade unions when they encounter problems at work. If an employee
feels that they are being unfairly treated, he or she can ask the union
representative to help sort out the difficulty with the manager or employer.
Apart from negotiation and representation, many other benefits can be gained by
joining a trade union. One of these benefits is the fact that unions can offer
their members legal representation. Usually this is to help people to get
financial compensation for work-related injuries, or to assist people in taking
their employer to court. Members can also take full advantage of the wealth of
information which can be obtained from unions, of which can prove invaluable.
The kind of information available covers a range of issues i.e. the length of
holiday that an employee is entitled to each year, the amount of pay an employee
would be entitled to if they took maternity leave, and how training can be
obtained at work. “During the last ten years, trade unions have increased the
range of services they offer their members. These include: education and
training - most unions run training courses for their members on employment
rights, health and safety and other issues. Some unions also help members who
have left school with little education by offering courses on basic skills and
courses leading to professional qualifications. legal assistance - as well as
offering legal advice on employment issues, some unions give help with personal
matters, like housing, wills and debt. financial discounts - people can get
discounts on mortgages, insurance and loans from unions. welfare benefits - one
of the earliest functions of trade unions was to look after members who hit hard
times. Some of the older unions offer financial help to their members when they
are sick or unemployed.” These benefits can be gained by an individual worker
via a subscription fee. The amount varies from union to union and is normally
set at different levels according to the amount people earn. Some unions reduce
the fees for unemployed members. Conversely, there are disadvantages to trade
unions. In today’s high-powered world, with legal protection secured within
almost every situation, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the trade
union movement to operate at its full potential. “Laws on trade union
organization make it more difficult for unions to represent their members and to
negotiate improvements to their working conditions.” Employers no longer have
to, by law, recognise the trade unions which their employees belong to. This
will be changed by the Government in the summer of 2000, so that employees can
be properly represented by their trade unions. The law also allows employers to
persuade people to give up their rights to be represented by a trade union, by
offering higher wages and personal contracts to employees who agree to give up
these rights. This can almost be classed as a bribe, in which employers pay
workers more to decline from joining a trade union. Also, it is evident that
modern management is functioning at a far more efficient level than previously.
“A move from the entrepreneurial 1980s to the post-entrepreneurial 1990s with
less emphasis on gain and greed, and more on values such as concern for people,
quality, customers and the environment.” The relevance of trade unionism in
todays working society could be argued, but I feel that that there is still a
great need for them. One of the reasons for this is that a lot of the time
people enter into a job with little, or no knowledge of their rights within the
workplace. Trade unions exist to provide this knowledge. It can also be argued
that actual legal representatives, or solicitors, can perform the same
functions, but I disagree. Unlike solicitors, who have to deal with a wide range
of situations, trade unions are a more convenient source for workers to turn to.
They are ideally placed within the organization, and they are totally dedicated
to the main concern, which is to protect and advance the interests of its
members, the workers. I therefore agree with the trade union movement, and
believe that they will exist for as long as there are jobs. How successful they
are will depend on various factors. A progressive fall in the number of jobs in
manufacturing industries in the future, as in the past, will constitute the
decline of trade union membership. So will unemployment, which is currently high
by historic standards. Another factor is the fall in traditional full time
employment, and an increase in part time and temporary workers, who are less
likely to join unions. An increase in the proportion of the workforce employed
by small companies where it is often difficult for unions to organize, as well
as hostile legislation will all comprise possible obstacles for the trade union
to overcome. I am, nevertheless, inclined to believe that the future of the
trade union movement lies with its past. It has managed to overcome major
obstacles in its time, and has come through it damaged, but still existent. For
this reason, I feel that Britain’s trade unions will remain adaptable and
pragmatic enough to grow once again into this new century, and into the next.

Bibliography
Armstrong, M & Murlis, H (1991) Reward Management Second Edition Begg, D
(1987) Economics Second Edition Clark, A & Layard, R (1993) UK Unemployment
Second Edition Jones, J & Morris, M (1986) A-Z of Trade Unionism and
Industrial Relations Taylor, R (1994) The Future of the Trade Unions TUC Company
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