Role Of Trade Unions In Protecting Its Member’s Interest

Protecting Its Member’s Interest

The traditional concept of trade union function was to defend the workers’ rights and interests against the employers. Protection of employees and providing for security and improving the wages, conditions of work and standard of living are the main new functions of trade unions.

a. Negotiating Machinery

Negotiations include the proposals made by one party and the counter-proposals of the other party. This process continues until the parties reach an agreement. Thus, negotiations are based on ‘give and take’ principle. A Trade union is a party for negotiations, protects the interests of workers through collective bargaining. Thus, the trade union works as negotiating machinery.

b. Wages and salaries

The subject which drew the major attention of the trade unions is wages and salaries. Of course, this item may be related to policy matters. However, differences may arise in the process of their implementation. In the case of the unorganized sector, the trade union plays a crucial role in bargaining the pay scales.

c. Employee-Employer Relations

Harmonious relations between the employees and employer is a sine qua non for industrial peace. A trade union always strives for achieving this objective. However, the bureaucratic attitude and unilateral thinking of management may lead to conflicts in the organization which ultimately disrupt the relations between the workers and management. A Trade union, being the representative of all the workers, may carry out continuous negotiations with the management with a view to promoting industrial peace.

d. Working conditions

Trade unions with a view to safeguarding the health of workers’ demands the management to provide all the basic facilities such as, lighting and ventilation, sanitation, restrooms, safety equipment while discharging hazardous duties, drinking, refreshment, minimum working hours, leave and rest, holidays with pay, job satisfaction, social security benefits and other welfare measures.

e. Safeguarding organizational Health and the interest of the industry

Organizational health can be diagnosed by methods evolved for grievance redressed and techniques adopted to reduce the rate of absenteeism and labor turnover and to improve employee relations. Trade unions by their effective working may achieve employee satisfaction. Thus, trade unions help in reducing the rate of absenteeism, labor turnover and developing systematic grievance settlement procedures leading to harmonious industrial relations. Trade unions can thus contribute to the improvements in the level of production and productivity, discipline and improve quality of work life.

f. Welfare

As stated earlier, trade unions are meant for the welfare of workers. Trade union works as a guide, consulting authority and cooperates in overcoming the personal problems of workers. It may bring to the notice of management, through collective bargaining meetings, the difficulties of workers in respect of sanitation, hospitals, quarters, schools and colleges for their children’s cultural and social problems

g. Personnel Policies

Trade unions may fight against the improper implementation of personnel policies in respect of Training, transfer, promotions, recruitment and selection,

h. Discipline

Trade unions not only conduct negotiations in respect of the items with which their working conditions may be improved but also protect the workers from the clutches of management whenever workers become the victims of management’s unilateral acts and disciplinary policies. This victimization may take the form of penal transfers, suspensions, dismissals, etc. In such a situation the separated worker who is left in a helpless condition may approach the trade union. Ultimately the problem may be brought to the notice of management by the trade union and it explains about the injustice met out to an individual worker and fights the management for justice. Thus, the victimized worker may be protected by the trade union.

i. Need for Trade Unions

Trade unions help in the accelerated pace of economic development in many ways as follows:

1. As Trade unions are a part of society, they have to be taken into consideration even the national integration as well.
2. By serving social changes. Labors have to change themselves to the new working environments, the new directions, and rules. Labors pending from dissimilar upbringings may become disorganized, unsatisfied and frustrated. Unions help them in such an adjustment.
3. By serving in the choosing of workforces and employment.
4. by teaching self-control among the workers.
5. by allowing clearing of business arguments in a normal way.
6. By helping social adjustments. Workers have to adjust themselves to the new working conditions, the new rules and policies. Workers coming from different backgrounds may become disorganized, unsatisfied and frustrated. Unions help them in such an adjustment.

Trade Unions representing workers interest

Negotiating workers interest

Glassner and Keune state (2010:9) that dealing with the current crisis the Participation of collective agreements and Collective bargaining has confirmed to be one of the greatest vital tools. Trade Unions help the client with specific deals such as divesting or acquiring businesses, restructuring relationships and resolving disputes. The long term capability to negotiate more effectively. as in most European countries, widespread negotiating takes place on crisis-related rearrangement and reform of businesses, salary changes, reduction of employed time, flexibilization of labor relations, and vocational training and re-skilling. Also, in the implementation of statutory short-time working provisions, collective bargaining plays a key role. Before coming to the outcomes of collective bargaining. Trade Union stimulate fairness vigorously contest discrimination and assistance to encourage identical chances at work Union representative are well placed to recognize occurrences of judgment and to work with managers to safeguard that anti-discrimination plans are correctly applied. This aids to make the workplace more attractive to employees educating staff preservation, absenteeism and output as well as reducing management time spent addressing the grievance.

Mediators

According to Mayo (2011:6) considerably of the current, it is now acknowledged by both companies and those on behalf of workers that mediation can be a very active tool for determining workplace arguments or the service claim that arise out of them. Saundry, (2010:52) has conceptualized workplace mediation as a direct, technical procedure through which associations are improved capable to resolve arguments.it needs promise and hard work on the part of all contributes, including those educating the mediation, for example, the Human Resources team and any lawful or trade union consultants, Surely, from a strategy viewpoint, it has been claimed that a growth of workplace mediation can enable argument determination and decrease the problems engaged on proprietors, workers, and the public obviously, therefore, care has focused on the business case for mediation. Mediator’s conventional tactics tend to an emphasis on allotting responsibility. In contrast, mediation highlights the significance of seeking a jointly agreed resolution. Thus, mediation provides a less argumentative way, and a safer environment, in which persons can raise their concerns Furthermore, mediation offers significant financial savings compared to conventional disputes procedures. Swift and sustainable resolutions to disputes promise to reduce the possibility of long-term absence, minimize the number of cases that reach litigation and make resignations less likely. In addition, mediation can be organized and conducted relatively quickly and tends to involve significantly less organization period than old-style methods.

Protest leading

According to Clift 2014:1. A strike is not an easy tool to exercise. Due to the considerable risks in a strike or lockout, they are normally observed as the last resort, after productive bargaining has reached an impasse. It necessitates undoubted union associates that the possible gains from a strike are better than the individual and professional losses subsequent from closing down the workplace for an unknown period. Earlier, strikes and lockouts have been the most effective means to achieve major changes in collective agreements. They put a great deal of pressure on the parties to find an acceptable resolution to the impasse either because of financial loss (primarily the private sector) or the expense of political capital (primarily in the public sector). Even though the occurrence and period of slowdowns over the past 40 years in Canada have been on an overall downward movement, there is no exact way to control how long a specific strike may carry on. For this reason, Trade unions frequently resort to some form of imperfect work action to put pressure on the proprietor before appealing in a full-blown strike. Although the parties to a strike or lockout may reach agreement on their own, they often require the assistance of a go-between to move their discussions onward. On occasion, the negotiator may be asked to switch hats and to arbitrate on certain intractable issues Industries.

Conclusion

This review of the literature revealed the role and importance of trade unions in the society and their efforts in defending the workers right, working condition, wages, hours and benefits for workers. The reviews also explore workers interest and what do they entail.it also shows that trade union can be made effective in different ways including having clearly defined and comprehensive policies that give the trade unions the power they deserve. The reviews also revealed that trade unions empower the employees and educate them of their right to enjoy the benefits of being employees. However, the literature showed that the most active means to achieve major changes in collective agreements is to persuade strikes and lockouts. Regardless of the great insights from the literature review the investigator originate that there is little recognized on the study based on trade unions in Swaziland. This study is therefore projected to link this gap of information that exists between Trade Unions, workers interest and how effective are trade unions in representing the interest of workers.

References

1. Robert F. Clift Executive Director, Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC April 25, (2014) Strike or Binding Arbitration?
2. Vera Glassner Maarten Keune (2010) what’s the Best Way to Resolve an Impasse