BY AFAF ABDUL AZIZ
OPEN UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
THE EXTENT TO WHICH LABOR UNIONS CAN INFLUENCE HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES IN BAHRAIN
BY AFAF ABDUL AZIZ
Project Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Human Resources
Open University Malaysia (May 2010)
ABSTRACT
Labor unions are legal organizations that consists of a group of workers who have banded together to bargain with employers on behalf of workers. The primary role of labor unions is to fight for better rights, working condition, wages, hours and benefits for workers. On the other hand side, management always introduces and implements certain Human Resource practices that utilizes Human resources in building a sustainable competitive advantage and improve organizational performance. The aim objective of this project paper was to examine the extent to which labor unions can influence HR practices. This objective was achieved by studying the factors that add to the power of labor unions and increase their strength and to find out that do companies with strong labor union influence will adopt on Soft or Hard practice. Personal interview survey was the basic research design used to gather the necessary data. Ten union leaders were selected using probability sampling. The personal interview questionnaire was structured in two sections addressing labor unions issues and HR Practices in companies. The data analysis reveals that union density, qualities and characteristics of union leader, union management cooperation, relationship with labors and membership quality and training and key factors in influencing and increasing union’s power and strength. Moreover, results show that strong trade unions can influence a company’s HR practice by adopting softer Human Resource practices than hard ones.
III
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Utmost Thanks to Allah (the Almighty, the most