Problems Emanating from Unfair Labor Laws - Case Study Example

Assignment 5: Persuasive Paper Assignment 5: Persuasive Paper Part Outsourcing labor by foreign nations where employees lack labor unions or strict labor laws continues to be a critical issue since 1880s. Most US-based multinational corporations adopt and implement this approach in the course of obtaining employees at lower wages, thus reduced liability over such workers in great supply in the relevant nations (Bulajic & Domazet, 2012). The American government is taking strict measures against unfair labor practices while aiming at setting an example of how these companies should address the issue in the international contexts as in the case of the US. The US government considers prohibiting such corporations from engaging in labor practices in foreign countries without fair labor laws as well as instituting appropriate workers’ union to advocate the rights of employees. In this essay, the focus will be on illustration of the positive implications of labor unions, appropriate legislations, and ethical functioning of multinational corporations in utilizing labor outsourcing effectively and efficiently, thus massive reduction of unfair labor practices in the globalized economies. The approach by the US government to prohibit transactions in the presence of unfair labor laws and lack of union in outsourcing jobs in the foreign-based corporations will set the precedence of the importance of labor equality. In addition, it will promote fairness at local and international levels. The entrance of various western companies has been essential in enhancing the level of competition, thus rendering it challenging to the organizations to gain substantive profits. Such corporations continue to experience massive increase in their costs of operations under the influence of the strict labor laws. In the recent years, several business entities or corporations have focused on the adoption and implementation of the concept of outsourcing labor to address issues relating to the strict labor regulations and laws. In the 1980s, most corporations had moved to outsource labor from the less developed nations where competitive was never stiff in comparison to the developed nations. In addition, labor was in abundant, cheap, and did not suffer negatively from the labor laws (Bulajic & Domazet, 2012). The major concern with outsourcing labor from foreign nations relates to the existence of unfair labor practices. One of the most controversial debates relating to unfair labor practice is on the issue of companies offering outsourced jobs but justify it as a decision to offer job opportunities to the outsourced workers (Habib-Mintz, 2009). The trend is worrying considering the US is at the forefront in the advocacy for fair labor laws and employee unions, domestically. The same, however, remains a mystery for American multinational corporations outsourcing from foreign nations that consist mainly of developing countries. It is critical to note that the double standard is generating negative implications on the economy of the foreign lands as such economies lose rather than gain economically from the aspect of outsourcing. Finally, it is ideal to highlight the social relations between the US and other foreign nations, which continues to wane because of the unfair labor practices, thus negative implications on the nations’ populations. Notably, it is vital to demonstrate various issues or problems relating to the unfair labor laws. Problems emanating from Unfair Labor Laws The first problem relating to unfair labor laws and practices is the unethical or immoral implications. Utilizing outsourced labor and offering cheap wages without substantive care for their health and other relevant issues amounts to slavery. The corporations have the tendency of violating human rights in pursuit of increased profitability, thus promoting unethical practice. There is necessity for foreign nations, international labor unions as well as the business entities to adopt and implement appropriate mechanisms in the course of eliminating or reducing such ethical implications or immoral problems (Naima, 2013). Second, unfair labor laws have negative economic implications on the foreign land, which fails to obtain taxes in the labor field, thus massive influence on the perception of the investors. The approach by multinational corporations to pay employees less wages contributes to minimum taxes on the nations providing cheap labor, thus massive implications on the economies depending on taxations for economic growth and development. On the other hand, investors do not like engaging in unscrupulous business deals, thus will jump at the first opportunity to pull out of the economy following the influence of unfair labor laws. Third, unfair labor practices contribute to socio-political issues or problems. It is the obligation of the legislators to ensure the presence of labor laws, which are essential to protecting citizens from exploitation. Lack of these laws leads unfair labor practices, which tend to strain the social relationship between employers and employees, as well as nations. The implications of socio-political issues are evident in the economic platform, thus stagnation of the growth and development of the economies of the nations, which participate in the outsourcing transaction. From the above illustrations, unfair labor practices in the course of labor outsourcing lead to economic, ethical, and socio-political issues, which tend to have negative implications to the US administration. It is essential to focus on the establishment of strict labor practices for outsourcing similar to the existing labor practices in America. Part II Unfair labor practices continue to exist in the contemporary world despite the strategies, which are in place to maintain fairness at workplace. The US administration has been on the forefront in enacting various policies aiming at protection of the right of labors working in multinational corporations focusing on outsourcing workers to address their labor issues. One of the essential laws that aim at protection of the right and honor of employees working in the United States and other nations is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to the provisions of FLSA, organizations seeking to outsource must adhere to the intention of employees from the host nations. From this perspective, there is need for proper implementation of policies for the protection of unfair labor practices (Laswoski, 2009). The American administration and host nations should deliberate on prohibiting business corporations from engaging in continuous business transactions in the presence of any unfair labor practices, as well as conducts. In the course of eliminating unfair labor practices, it is critical to adopt the following strategies by the United States’ government and business corporations outsourcing labor. Recommendations or Strategies First, it is vital for the organizations to integrate a fair work environment with the intention of aiding the achievement of sustainability. Based on that, issues relating to unfair trade practices will experience elimination through effective and efficient reporting of the unfair practices, as well as incidents directly to the head office. Implementation of this strategy will require an efficient domain or portal, which is accessible to all employees. The intention of the approach is to enable victims of unfair labor practices to raise their voices directly to the development authority (Sciotti, 2004). The strategy is highly recommendable towards maintaining integrity of the employees while upholding ethical practices in various locations of the corporations. Secondly, labor unions have been very efficient in the course of handling labor rights and interests. It is critical to note that developed nations such as USA might not require labor unions. Nevertheless, labor unions are highly important for the developing nations or host countries focusing on outsourcing labor. It is ideal to develop vibrant labor unions for essential attention by multinational corporations. According to various observers, some multinational corporations fail to pay for overtime duties appropriately. In addition, certain entities employ teenagers in business with the objective of generating maximum output against low investment. Labor unions, in such cases, act effectively and efficiently in the protection of the employment rights and issues, which is ideal in overcoming socio-political challenges. In the third instance, it is appropriate for the government of the host nations to consider amending policies, which would be mandatory for the employees and employees to adhere to in the course of handling the demands and expectations of the target audiences. This aspect of strategic implementation exists in various nations, but its implementation in the global scale would be ideal in overcoming the issues relating to economy of the host nations. The government can utilize the collected tax from the employees for the improvement of the welfare of the society. The recommendations have various advantages from socio-political, ethical, and economic perspectives. Potential Benefits or Advantages Remarkably, most US-based corporations have clear motives towards expanding their businesses in less competitive nations at cheaper employment rates. The factors have been essential in generating unfair practices against labors from the host nations. The development of the labor unions is vital towards reducing the wrongdoings against employees of the organization (Whittaker, 2003). According to various research practitioners, union leaders tend to express biasness from the management of the organizations, thus avoiding the requesting the right of the single employees. From a broader perspective, the union groups enable employees to get the rightful response from organizations (Pradhan, 2012). The society can be peaceful with less interference from the local government, as well as the governments of the host nations. On the other hand, implementation of the portals or labor domains will enable the organization to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, thus massive retention rate of the quality employees through increased motivation and loyalty among the workers. Furthermore, the ethical practices will enable the organizations to enhance their brand value and reputation in the market and industry of operation. Interventions by the government of the host nations will be effective for the improvement of the work-fairness in the business entities. Such government interventions and policies will protect workers of the host nations with respect to their rights while benefiting the organisations significantly, as well as preserving them to aid sustainability in the nations of transaction (Basu, 2012). In the contemporary society, employment policies contribute a significant role in the growth and development of business organizations. The essential organizational policies such as Fair Labor Laws have profound influence in relation to the development of the values while marinating work-fairness (Fernandez, 2007). These laws, as well as regulations are critical in benefiting employees and corporations seeking to outsource workers in handling the demands and expectations of the employees in the target markets and industries. Part III: Potential Disadvantages The development and integration of labor unions continue to generate constant debates on the potential implications. One of the major issues in relation to labor unions is the unrealistic wages levels. In spite of increased access to higher wages, labor unions might have negative implications through increased wages, which might be beyond the capabilities of the employers in pursuit of sustainable growth and development. That has the tendency of cutting into profit margins, thus devastating effects on the business. Similarly, labor unions relate to the potential strikes, which present another shortcoming to labor unions. It is critical to note that strikes are the only effective tools unions have through uniting workers to avoid their obligations until their demands are met. Visual I: Employees Strikes. Source: Lanclos (n.d) Nevertheless, strikes can lead to adoption of new workforce for the lower wages, thus affecting the operations of the employers and employees in addressing the demands and preferences of the consumers within the markets and industries of transactions. Such strategies also relate to the issue of the majority rules. In the union workforce or workplace, the majority have the tendency of making decisions for the entire workforce. It is notable that the union representation can be a powerful force for change in the favor of the company’s employees. Labor unions, however, might be powerful tools institutions to effect change in the direction of the majority, thus limitation of the involvement of the employees in making various decisions. Visual 2: Majority Rules. Source: Lanclos (n.d) Strategies might also affect the competitiveness of the business entities or corporations. For instance, union wages are much larger in comparison to the non-union workers. This is essential in causing the price of goods by the union workers to be higher in relation to the competition. Moreover, the productivity does not experience substantive rewards under the influence of the union structure. Similarly, the less production levels continue to reduce the ability of the company to compete effectively and efficiently in the market and industry of transaction. Visual 3: Less Productivity Source: Lanclos (n.d). Conclusion Conclusively, multinational corporations in contemporary labor markets focus on the development and implementation of outsourcing techniques and strategies in the course of obtaining quality and cheap labor in accordance with the demands and expectations of consumers. These approaches might suffer from the issue of unfair labor practices, globally. In America, there have been critical regulations, which are essential in the course of enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of the multinational corporations in pursuit of competitive advantage and sustainability. Nevertheless, the global context has the unfair labor practices, thus the need to adopt and implement appropriate techniques and strategies for efficiency in the operations and protection of the rights and demands or interests of the employees. Techniques in the course of eliminating or reducing the development or integration of the labor unions will be critical to the protection and preservation of the needs and rights of the workers. References Basu, P. (2012). New Wage Law. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Bulajic, A. & Domazet, D. (2012, September). Globalization and Outsourcing and Off Shoring. Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences, 3(9): 1321-1328. Fernandez, P. (2007). Fair Labor Standards and Welfare Legislations. New York: Springer Habib-Mintz, N. (2009). Multinational Corporations’ role in improving labor standards in developing countries. Journal of International Business and Economy, 10(2): 39-58. Lanclos, J. (n.d). Disadvantages of Labor Unions. Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://www.ehow.com/about_5333683_disadvantages-labor-unions.html Laswoski, A. (2009). Fair Labor Standards. London: Kogan Page. Naima, F. (2013). Accountability for Outsourced Torts: Expanding Brands Duty of Care for Workplace Harms Committed Abroad. Georgetown Journal of International Law, 44 (4). Pradhan, N. (2012). Fair Labor Legislation Standards. New York: McGraw-Hill. Whittaker, W. (2003). The Fair Labor Standards Act. London: Routledge Read More