How Unions Affect Company Productivity
How Unions Affect Company Productivity Tokwiny Da-Thong
Professor Chris D’Mello
MBA Fundamentals
AMBA 600 Section 9062 Semester 1109
How Unions Affect Company Productivity
Introduction
Employees and their employers seem to approach the issue of employment from very different perspectives. This fact often leads many people to ask; “how can these sides that are expected to work hand-in-hand reach any sort of agreement?” The answer to this common question lies in unions. It has been proved that for centuries, unions have played a significant role in the employee-employer dialogue, but in past few decades, various aspects of business and working environments have significantly changed. For this reason, it is imperative to understand how unionism, fit into the transformed business and working environment, and what roles do unions play in the present-day economy, especially how they impact organizations productivity.
What are unions?
According to Perlman (2010), a union is an organization that is comprised of employees drawn from various departments or sectors of an organization whose main aim is to negotiate with organizations, businesses and other corporations on behalf of union members. It is imperative to understand that there are different entities of unions such as trade unions, which negotiate on behalf of employees who do a particular type of job and industrial unions, which negotiate on behalf of employees in a particular industry. Good examples of trade and industrial unions are the American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organization and the United Auto Workers respectively.
As stated earlier, unions play a vital role in the dialogue between the employer and employees. Since the industrial revolution, they have been lauded for ensuring improvements in wages and working conditions for
Professor Chris D’Mello
MBA Fundamentals
AMBA 600 Section 9062 Semester 1109
How Unions Affect Company Productivity
Introduction
Employees and their employers seem to approach the issue of employment from very different perspectives. This fact often leads many people to ask; “how can these sides that are expected to work hand-in-hand reach any sort of agreement?” The answer to this common question lies in unions. It has been proved that for centuries, unions have played a significant role in the employee-employer dialogue, but in past few decades, various aspects of business and working environments have significantly changed. For this reason, it is imperative to understand how unionism, fit into the transformed business and working environment, and what roles do unions play in the present-day economy, especially how they impact organizations productivity.
What are unions?
According to Perlman (2010), a union is an organization that is comprised of employees drawn from various departments or sectors of an organization whose main aim is to negotiate with organizations, businesses and other corporations on behalf of union members. It is imperative to understand that there are different entities of unions such as trade unions, which negotiate on behalf of employees who do a particular type of job and industrial unions, which negotiate on behalf of employees in a particular industry. Good examples of trade and industrial unions are the American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organization and the United Auto Workers respectively.
As stated earlier, unions play a vital role in the dialogue between the employer and employees. Since the industrial revolution, they have been lauded for ensuring improvements in wages and working conditions for
References: Addison, J & Chilton, J. (2003). Can we identify union productivity effects? Industrial Relations, 32 (12): 124-132. Brown, C & Medoff, J. (2005). Trade unions in the production process. Journal of Political Economy. 86 (3): 350-380 Meyer, D. (2008). Unions, employee relations and high performance work practices. Retrieved 30 November, 2011, from http://www.mbs.edu/index.cfm?objectid=BC127536-5056-AD5A-234B4F78C0E3AF0D Moody, K. (2007). An injury to all: The decline of American Unionism. Brooklyn, NY: Verso. Perlman, S. (2010). A history of trade unionism in the United States. Montana: Kessinger Publishing. Shaiken, H. (2004). The high road to a competitive economy: A labor law strategy. Washington D.C: Center for American Progress.