Decline in the Union Membership and Various Reasons Why People Join Unions - Case Study Example

DECLINE IN UNION MEMBERSHIP Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction Unions are essential mechanisms that articulate and represent the interests of employees. Unions act as mechanism through which employees contribute to the enforcement and authorship of laws that regulate the employment relations. They are channels through which workers influence their conditions and terms of employment, practice and processes utilized in the workplace. Trade unions entail a constant link that upholds and improves employment conditions for workers. The role of trade unions is to represent employees. Notwithstanding the significant role of unions in the workplace, union membership has declined. Between 1992 and 2011, the percentage of union membership fell from forty-three percent to eighteen for male employees and from thirty-five to eighteen percent of female employees. This essay highlights the reasons for the decline in union membership and investigates why people join unions. The essay also underscores the impact of the decline in union membership on employers and managers. Evolution of Union In Australia, unions began between 1900 and 1989 with the emergence of the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions). Unions were focused on the compulsory arbitration and compelled development of tribunals with the power to create lawfully binding decisions aimed at resolving industrial disputes. Unions thrived under the Arbitration Act of 1904 and by 1921, the number of unions reached 382. Between 1901 and 1921, the percentage of the Australian workforce covered by the unions increased to fifty-two percent. However, in 1980s the union density declined reaching a level of fifty percent. Between 1992 and 1999, the union density further fell by nearly two percent and by 2002, only twenty-three percent of employees maintained union membership. Between 1990 and 1996, the proportion of federally registered unions dropped from 295 to 132. By July 2000, they were only fifty unions linked to the ACTU. Union membership has not only declined in Australia, but also in the United States, Britain, and other nations. Prior to the Civil War, labor unions were weak and short-lived. However, after the Civil War, industrialization increased rapidly. The percentage of the workforce in the manufacturing industries grew from ten percent in 1860 to almost thirty percent by 1920. Union membership increased after 1880 in the United States. According to Sexton (2012, p.459), the increase in labor unions was partly because of the horrendous working conditions in the manufacturing industries. Children as young as five years old and women were handling risk machinery for long hours on daily basis. In this regard, the union demands were to prompt higher wages, as well as a reduction in work hours besides improved working conditions. In the past 60 years, the percentage of workers in union jobs has declined sharply to 12.3% from 33%. The proportion of workers in the public sector remains high. Nearly forty percent of workers in the public sector are labor union members. In the private sector, on the contrary, less than eight percent of private sector employees are union members. In the education sector, teacher’s organizations with an example of National Education Association (NEA) have turned into robust labor unions. Reasons for Joining Unions Scores of employers, politicians, and even the media disapprove of the labor movement. Unions are viewed as outdated and organizations that fail to provide any good to their members. Despite all the complaints and criticism regarding unions, some employees still join these unions. Employees established unions to offer them a powerful voice at their workplace. Union members strive to enhance their safety in their workplace and good working conditions. Unions offer members the needed advice, support and information regarding employees’ rights. There are different types of employees unions, which include state-sanctioned and voluntary trade unions. According to Amos, Ristow, Pearse and Ristow (2008, p.82), craft unions organizes workers based on their skill irrespective of their industries. Industrial unions bring workers in a given industry together on a detailed basis irrespective of certain tasks carried out such as mining, clothing and textiles, health sectors, and education. Industry unions involve people who work in the same industry. Company unions bring together members who work in the same firm irrespective of their roles. General unions bring all employees together from different levels and industries irrespective of their industry or job. Most countries hold some form of trade union practice. The most dominant categorization of union in Australia depends on membership. Employees join trade unions for economic needs, job security and regulation, political reasons, social needs, self-fulfillment, to protect skill and for representation purpose. Other reasons why employees join unions include displeasure with the economic aspect of their jobs, a desire to influence some aspects of their work settings and benefits linked to unionism (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor 2011, p.210). In addition, people make the decision to join unions because of the value of the benefits linked to these unions. Unionism is considered a major tool for attaining certain purposes such as employment insurance. Other people unionize given the political approach on the temperament of their work. In Australia, employees join unions for instrumental reasons as opposed to ideological purposes. Sims (2002, p.342) asserts that people join unions because they believe that there are better off when they join the unions. In the past, people joined unions because of the need to improve the unpleasant working conditions. For instance, between the 18th and 19th century, some employers treated their employees unfairly in their quest for greater profits. People who are dissatisfied with the jobs believe that joining unions would improve their jobs (Bryson, Barth & Dale-Olsen 2013 p.1008).With respect to employers, trade unions assist in the workforce management. Reasons for Decline in Union Membership The Australian union movement is comparatively powerful, and unions are viewed as having a legitimate purpose in Australian society. The union movement is linked to, but independent from, ALP (Australian Labor Part). The relationship between the political and industrial wings of the labor movement has not been good. Between 1983 and 1996, the unions signed a series of written agreements referred to as the Accord when the ALP was in charge of the government. Over the final half of the twentieth century, the union movement was strong, but the number of employees joining unions was lower in comparison to employers joining associations. In the recent years, the proportion of union membership has declined significantly. Membership has declined, particularly in the private sector (Zanko 2002, p.98). In addition, in some industries, some unions have not been able to organize workers, hence the decline in union membership. Numerous probable reasons instigate the current decline in labor union membership. Some of these reasons include a change in workers whereby employees are moving out of the manufacturing sector into the service sector. Sexton (2012, p.459) asserts that unions in the service sector hold a smaller presence. More so, the federal government deregulated greatly unionized industries such as airline, railroad, and trucking industry. The deregulation of heavily unionized industries instigates a rise in competition both abroad and at home. Given the increased domestic and international competition firms resorted to hiring fewer pricey union workers. Apparently, international competition makes scores of firms to require closing down their plants and dismissing workers. The downsizing instigated by competition makes it intricate for unions to attain concessions from firms (Sexton 2012, p.459). Another reason why labor union membership is declining is the fact that the federal government passed novel laws that stress safe workplaces. In Australia, the political power of union diminished following the introduction of the Industrial Relations Reform Act in 1993. Keating government adopted an anti-union position through establishing the Workplace Relations Act of 1996. Following the establishment of this Act, the strength of union dropped greatly. Employers started embracing antagonistic approaches and renowned employers become more liable to confront unions on industrial matters. The establishment of individual contracts, the ban of compulsory unionism, reduced power of arbitration tribunal, augmented penalties for industrial unions and complex procedures for union rights entry facilitated the decline in union membership. The Howard government introduced the Australian Workplace Agreements that further increased the decline in union membership. Federal and state government policies have established a hostile trade unions operating environment. According to Bennet and Kaufma (2002, p.28), the decline in the private sector union membership rate is due to differential growth rates in employment amid the union and non-union sectors. Changes in the union new-organization rate are also another major reason for the decline in employee union membership. Fiorito and Jarley (2012, p. 463) report that private sector union density dropped below seven percent in 2010. Even with comparatively steady public sector unionization that amounts to thirty-six percent, the overall density reached 11.9 % in 2010. The private sector labor union membership dropped from 34 percent to 24 percent between 1950 and 1980. Fiorito and Jarley (2012) identified three major factors that have triggered the decline in labor union membership. These factors include economic causes, the decline in certification election rates of win and declining certification election practice. While win rates have rebounded, organizing activity has constantly fallen, and unionized firms have declined comparatively to nonunion firms. Union organization through National Labor Relations Board certification elections declined sharply in 2006 with only 1 648 elections in this years compared to the 2, 142 elections conducted in 2005. This drop represents one of the steepest drops since the 1980s when unions held over six thousands elections in a year. In 2010, only 1571 union elections were conducted. Other reasons for the decline in union membership include changing public insights about unions. Unions became less pertinent and less popular with employees. Shifts in employment also prompted the decline in union membership with union heartland registering decreased jobs while non-unionized regions registered increased jobs. Management practices that exhibit anti-union practices, and union practices that fail to uphold productive workplace networks are major reasons causing the decline in union membership. Precisely, union density is declining in Australia because shifting employment composition, economic factors such as unemployment, tax reductions, guaranteed wage rise, and superannuation. Shifting union popularity, management role, government policies and union structures and policies also instigate union membership decline The ACTU has demonstrated constant concern over the trade unions poor public image. Impact of the Decline of Union Membership on Employers and Managers The economic effects of union decline extends to the labor force and not restrained to board certified union members. The decline in union membership has played a part in broadening income disparity in society. Studies indicate that union increase wages overall, lower race, age, and gender pay disparities and lower wage inequality. The decline in union membership prompts declining political influence for employees because unions devote bigger effort to influence legislation that benefits employees and the society as a whole. The current decline in unions is depicted through the use of temporary employees, the demise of conventional pensions and forced arbitration and decline in real wages (Deckop 2006, p.270). Employers can now hire employees based on their terms and conditions and can as well take part in formulating industrial relations. The decline in union membership is beneficial to employers because employers will be in a position to dictate their wages. In addition, the decline lowers strikes that may negatively affect a company’s productivity. The decline in union membership allows employers to gain full control of their human resource management. Apparently, unions dictate workplace rules that protect workers based on seniority instead of merit. More so, the decline in union membership lowers arbitrations and lawsuits against employers. When an employer engages an organized workforce, he is likely to experience challenges such as court cases regarding issues of discrimination or alleged mistreatment of employees. Unions are harmful to business, and their decline benefits the employers. The continuing decline will reduce the conflict between unions and employers. According to Mackenzie (2011, p.176), the effect of the decline of unionization would extend beyond the firms directly concerned as it would lower the pressure on nonunionized companies to correspond to the broader benefits unionized competitors would offer. With respect to the management, union membership decline requires managers to adopt the role of unions in their organizations. Managers must establish policies directed at replacing the role of the union in the workplace. The significance of union decline is connected intricately to the role of unions. Unions affect employees, employers, organizations, and economy. Union representation has adverse effects on productivity given the increased conflicts between employers and unions. The decline in union membership and density triggers a decline in the significance and influence of collective bargaining and the demise of multi-employer bargaining arrangements. The general effects of the shifts in the broader context of industrial relations would be to improve the capacity of managers to effect major changes in the labor management ( Barry 2000, p.128). Managers have to demonstrate increased leadership ability to manage employees and take up the role played by unions in organizing employees. Managers must widen their roles and manage employee relations in order for firms to be productive enough. The decline in union membership has increased the power of managers ( Howell 2009, p.160).While the decline in unions benefits employers, the decline affects employees through widening income inequality. Conclusion Unions are an essential mechanism for the representation and articulation of employees’ interests. They play a crucial role in exacerbating and mitigating the negative upshots of work reorganization on employees’ well-being for a number of reasons. Unions negotiate on behalf of their members, and they may be able to prevent changes that seem harmful to workers. People join unions for economic needs, job security and regulation, political reasons, social needs, self-fulfillment, to protect skill and for representation purpose. However, since 1980s, union members have declined. The decline is caused by numerous factors among them changing employment composition, economic factors, decreased the popularity of unions, management role, union structures and policies and government policies. To address the decline in union membership, union representatives should espouse union amalgamations, offer improved services to the remaining members and focus on recruitment of new members. 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