It is very important for people working in a large organization to have and be part of a union. A labor union is defined as a collection of workers who come together to meet common goals and practices. It is good to be in a union because the workers belonging to a union can collectively bargain with their employers. Collective bargaining is one of the most important aspects for any union, be it in sports, or any other labor pool. This provision allows the employees to ask for their rights in a collective manner, that is in the form of unions. Employee involvement, if appropriately structured, generally improves the economic productivity of the firm. This is why the workers feel a duty for collective bargaining as it provides them with a strong collective voice. Many of the workers have also expressed a preference for representation through an employee organization that interacts with management in a non-adversarial manner.
Unions allow the workers to ask for their legitimate rights. Unions can enforce job security standard in a relatively expeditious and inexpensive arbitration forum. Unions can contest disparate treatment, where a person claims that he/she is being less favored than others are. Many collective bargaining please are also because of disparate impact, which means that the person is being discriminated against even thought the company's policies on the face do not show any discriminatory patterns. This is why it is extremely important for workers to be part of a union because a worker alone might face many problems but these problems can be resolved if the worker was part of a union. Also, many employers would find it much of a hassle to confront a union, while making one person the blunt of authority is much easier.
Being in a union has many advantages. If you were to take a look at history, a lot has changed and much has been developed in the area of wages and welfare work. The US government enacted the Social Security Act in 1935 and this was the first time where workers' consideration was taken into account. Throughout the times that followed, many more things were developed in providing better wages and wage-alternatives to the workers (Henretta & O'Rand 138). This was all possible because of the interaction between the management and the unions. It is highly unlikely that a single worker could have worked to have these laws implemented. However, it were the unions that were able to bargain with the management and able to provide such wage benefits as fringe benefits. Fringe benefits, also known as employee benefits, perquisites, or perks, are provided to many employees by their organizations. Many new organizations provide some extra benefits to the employees in order to give them more incentive to work. These benefits can include anything from basic medical and dental coverage to extremely lavish company-paid vacations. These packages were developed through management-union agreements that came about because of the government's taxation and social insurance policies
So, we see that unions are very important for employees. They not only help in raising the workers wages but also help in reducing wage inequality amongst the workers. Unions also end up helping the employees who are not unionized and this means that “the impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact on total union wages. “The most sweeping advantage for unionized workers is in fringe benefits. Unionized workers are more likely than their nonunionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans” (Mishel and Walters).
Work Cited
Henretta, J.C., & A. M. O'Rand., Age and Inequality: Diverse Pathways through Later Life. Westview Press: Boulder, CO. 1999
Mishel, L. and M. Walters, “How Unions Help All Workers,” EPI Briefing Paper #143, 2003. Available online: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_bp143
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