Introduction
Unions have a significant impact on the management of employees in an organization. This is because they are involved in protecting the employees’ rights against workplace discrimination or harassment. Therefore it is the responsibility of an organization to create a good working environment for their employees to avoid labor related disputes between the organization and trade unions. The human resources manager is expected to ensure that the employees work experiences consist of fair treatment, good working conditions and fair treatment. Labour unions fight for the rights of the employees and negotiate for improved working conditions on their behalf through collective bargaining. Therefore, the HR of an organization should develop a healthy working relationship with the union officials to prevent and implement proper resolutions for workplace conflict. The role of the Human resource is to support, guide and train its managers to assist them in developing effective working relationships with local unions.
In an organization, managers and the human resource management department have the responsibility of designing efficient workplace practices. However, despite their input on how work should be designed, internal and external factors such as; organizational structure, organizational culture, management and leadership style directly affect their decision making process. Griswold (2010) argues that trade unions play a significant role in influencing the choices that managers and HRM make when designing work place practices. Trade unions have a significant influence on the activities in the workplace. Their primary role us to ensure that the work environment has healthy working conditions, bargain for employees’’ salaries, benefits and create new opportunities for career development and job security for the workers.
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The HRM should enter into a labor agreement with the trade union in India that prevents the organization from being unionized. As a result the HRM can negotiate some of the employee’s contract clauses that are subject to collective bargaining such as; employees’ benefits, wages, skill training and discipline (Griswold, 2010). Furthermore, this approach also reserves particular items in the contract to the sole control of the management. This may include what products and services to produce and the location of production. The HR will assist the managers to prepare for negotiations with the officials from the local trade unions in Indian, by compiling relevant data and assist in planning the best bargaining strategy that will serve the needs of the organizations, its employees and are aligned with the union’s policies.
Although the labor agreement is the basis of the relationship between an organization and the trade union, most of the daily interactions between the management and union are founded on the approaches of implementation. This is because no agreement can forecast and account for the future outcomes. As a result, the HR must support the supervisors by providing them with the right training, resources and knowledge to resolve grievances. This will prevent the employees from feeling like they need to be represented by a union for their grievances to be addressed. This can be achieved if the HR has provided the supervisors with sufficient training that is based on the content of the labor agreement and the necessary skills required to address issues objectively and rationally.
Throughout history, trade unions have had a major impact and negotiating powers within organizations. Although unions raise wages and benefit from unionized employees, unionized workers are more likely to benefit from employment benefits compared to their non-unionized workers. For instance, trade unions fight for their beneficiaries to secure paid leave, receive health insurance through their employers or be included part of the pension plans provided by their employers. Moreover, unionized employees have access to generous health benefits, pension plans and vacation time.
Labor unions can have a negative influence to the changes in the human resource procedures within the organization. For instance, without the presence of unions, HRM have the power to construct policies that are associated with hiring, compensation and benefits. These policies are determined based on the management’s recognition of the business needs of an organization. Furthermore, HRM and the managers have direct interactions with the individual employees to address their performance issues and challenges. However, when the employees are represented by a union, the management must liaise with the union to determine appropriate policies that meet the needs of the employees and in some instances, resolve conflict. Thus, the HRM must identify how trade unions in India work and establish common grounds in which the management of the organization and the unions can agree on appropriate rules to govern the employees – without the facility being unionized.
Traditionally, the relationship between an organization’s management and the trade unions has been adversarial. This means that both parties have participated in position-bargaining strategies. Thus, for the manufacturing firm, it is important for the HRM to implement non-adversarial negotiations, such as interest-based bargaining. Through an interest-based bargaining approach, the HRM and the officials from the trade union in India will invest time and effort in identifying and understanding the interests of each party. This will assist the organization and the trade unions in India to develop a constructive relationship. Moreover, the HR can help managers to develop efficient interest-based bargaining strategies by providing training and coaching. Additionally, the HR can also support managers by identifying the best interest-based bargaining practices that will fulfill the needs of the manufacturing firm and its employees.
Despite the positive impact that trade unions have on various individuals within the work force and the overall organizational outcomes, their responsibilities in implementing different workplace design practices remains vague. Grant et al. (2010) asserts that it is uncertain whether the presence of trade unions assists an organization in enhancing flexibility within the work environment in order to accomplish flexibility in the production of goods and services. Traditionally, trade unions participated in movements that advocated for rules and regulations that limit the inconsistencies in a job description among individuals that occupied specific job categories (Grant et al., 2010). However, the growth and development of HRM policies has weakened the role of trade unions – by introducing a new paradigm through which organizations are compensating employees for high performance (Pološki Vokić, 2012). This has resulted to the development of an independence that employers are using to reorganize their work practices in ways that trade unions would earlier oppose.
The unions have an impact on the decision making process of the managers – whereby they challenge the authority of the supervisors and prevent an organization from formulating its HR policy unilaterally. Thus, by having the facility being unionized, the HR and management lack the powers to make unilateral decision without the input of the union. Therefore, by organizing meetings that provide guidance through shared expertise the HR will enhance the working conditions of the employees by addressing their issues and concerns – without necessarily involving union officials. Moreover, regular meetings between the employees and the managers will enable them to build a relationship that is founded on how the changes within the organization will affect the employees’ terms and conditions.
The strong influence of trade unions limits an organization’s ability to implement flexible working arrangements. This implies that organizations that are highly influenced by unions encounter challenges when attempting to implement flexible working arrangements. Although in some situations the trade unions are against the use of specific types of flexible working networks, by considering them as major limitations of employee’s rights – there are other instances where these unions have supported the work design processes by the HRM (Pološki Vokić, 2012). Trade unions have opposed specific working practices arguing that they could lead to the loss of protection that existing regulations provide – by suggesting that the management and HRM of an organization can use the changes in working practices to undermine their influence. In other instances, the trade unions have taken part in facilitating processes that encourage employee involvement in programs.
Conclusion
The role of trade unions in organization is not clear; however it is determined by the existing relationship between management, HRM practices and the unions. Moreover, the extent to which trade unions observe changes to benefit their members and their ability to facilitate workplace reorganization play a significant role in the management of an organization and its workforce. It is therefore imperative for the HRM to facilitate communication between the management and the employees of the manufacturing firm to implement policies that will not lead to legal disputes with the labor authorities in India.
References
Grant, A. M., Fried, Y., Parker, S. K., Frese, M. (2010), “Putting job design in context: Introduction to the special issue”, Journal of Organizational Behavior , 31(2/3): 145-157.
Griswold, D. (2010), Unions, protectionism, and U.S. competitiveness. CATO Journal, 30(1), 181-196.
Pološki Vokić, N. (2012), “The relationship between the quality of HRM practices and the role of trade unions in organizations”, 11th World Congress of the International Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management , 26-29 June, Limerick, Ireland
