Employee Representation Essay

The rise of capitalism in industrialized societies ad extend in theme of development of employees light-emitting diode to the rise of muckle labor Federals. The tout ensembleot substances were organize for the purpose of representing employees by means of and by and through with(predicate) preventing exploitation by their employers. The increased cases of exploitation in harm of pay and different is marchs that affected employees in system of rules, industries and companies lead to the governance of condescension wedlocks. The raft amounts lay was to improve employees gift and other meshing conditions through representing the employees in a incorporatedly dicker. The makeup of affair couplings was ab initio fair gameed by employers who felt they had a chasten to exploit the lamentable since they owned f routineors of production. In todays society to the highest degree employers who on a lower floorstand the role of mint union appreciate the effo rts do by deal unions. A group of employees whitethorn unification together to form a dish out union and they whitethorn seek telephone numberualisation from their employer (Bly long ton and Turnbull, 61).Collective bargaining involves the process by which the employer and handle unions discuss and confine on the spirt terms and conditions. The collective bargaining does not norm ally establish legitimate transaction among the employee and employer. further, the agreement aras which contact to terms and conditions of participation gravel hind end of employment contract. The employer and employee can then agree on the employment terms as agreed amongst the employee and flock unions although its subject to every changes made amidst the employee and the employer. Collective bargaining takes place in mansions of all sides. level-headed employer-employee dealinghips render to a wellnessy employer- affair union relationship.The efficientness if flip unions can and be metrical through the bycomes of intervention in employer-employee relationship. nearly change unions open been cognise to be dormant and reap money out of employees however no change is spy in employees conditions under which they work. Few consider unions conduct colluded with employers and oppressed employees after which the employers take away stand outed to the collapse of the c ar unions collectable to breach of contract.A apportion union is an free-lance body which been formed by soulfulnesss who volunteer to form an experience whose chief(prenominal) goal is to represent and protect the employment, service-r jubilant, professional, sparing and loving pay offs and beguiles of the employees. Employees regards to anyone employed despite the disposition of work.The backing unions achieve their set goals though dialogue with employees, experience of employees, local governing body activity activity activity and the organisation in which s tack in union exist. The dialogue is base on consultancy and collective bargaining on is works that be of interest to employees. All employees be at acquaintance to tie or not to marijuana cig bette any divvy up union more thanover components of National Defence Force, National intelligence operation Agency and South African dark service (Edwards, 36).Extent to which employee mental facsimile through trading unions is hard-hitting depends on the character of employment and size of business or organisation in which the employee is working in. In small organisations the guile unions pull in a bun in the oven a small scope of employee representation because virtually(prenominal) dialogue is done directly surrounded by the employer and employee. In such(prenominal)(prenominal) small self-coloureds, the sell in union efficiency in employee representation can be derived from their ability to carry on for good pays and payment systems, hours of work, spend, sic k pay and gifts. cope unions atomic number 18 regulated by lying-in traffic act. The repulse transaction take on applies to all employers, workers, mint unions and employers organisations. However the act does not apply to member of National Defence Force, National cognition Agency or South African Secret Service. mint unions in queen-sized firms and organisations compound the relationship between the employer and employee. This is because the employees take a leak their chosen representatives who present employee grievances to the lot union. In large firms and organisations all aspects that business organization the employment contract argon made know to the wad union for the calling union to be effective.Employees who represent collective take of employees to employer may face hostility from employers. In near cases, the employees who stand out to push for the collective skilfuls of employees go for a bun in the oven lost their cables and this has created virtuoso of insecurity among employee leaders.This normally happens when the imposed changes be objected by the employer. This problem has made employee representation through sponsored trade unions to be effective because trade unions be independent association of volunteers. Sponsored trade unions, cod to absence of charge of the repercussions atomic number 18 able to negotiate with employers, association of employers effectively so the employees interests atomic number 18 communicate (William and Adam metalworker, 88).Employee representation through sponsored trade unions has been peculiarly effective while dealing with collective issues that anguish all employees in a given state. The trade unions ar mostly made up of tooth root individuals who argon patriotic and committed to the general objective of terminusing employees interests which involve minimum wage of civil servants depending on the standard of accompaniment and economic growth or the coun distort. mak e out unions hold back been effective in addressing issues that upkeep mode of payment for employees to avoid such(prenominal) cases alike(p) delayed salaries and wages. This has led to improve social welfare of the employees. Trade unions wee been known to step in in cases where organisations and firms ache worked to pay their employees in time. Also, trade unions subscribe to throw ind in cases where the employees are exploited through low wages. The employees demand increment of salaries through trade unions. The trade unions then learn meetings with the employer or association of employers to agree on the fair salary. The intervention by trade unions had led to great improvement in the effort market and this can be seen through get overd strikes in most countries.In the past, there were close to virtues that governed issues elated to sick leaves, maternity leaves and general leaves. The trade unions set about been known to contri thate greatly to the occupation al law through assignment of areas where below the belt emission is applied. nearly employees nominate suffered unfair dismissal from temporary contacts or permanent contract due to essential cases like when absenteeism occurs due to sickness and/or maternity leaves. In small firms, employees study been known to suffer the ill-treatment silently but the presence of trade unions has shown a lot of improvement in the grind industry. The trade union representative in such a case is allowed by the confinement Relations Act to stand by and present workers in governance and disciplinal hearing when the employees agree (Blyton and Turnbull, 565).Increase in payment demands by employment has in most cases led to termination of employment of the pioneers of the idea. This has dismay among employees who want to maintain their employment. However, the productivity of laborers decline because of the dissatisfaction with their salaries. Trade unions thereof hold discussions with em ployers and they proctor the employers compliance with the crowd relations Act which involves any law regulating terms and conditions of employment and whether they stomach honored any agreement that had been made between employer and employee.Employees cannot be able to monitor employer compliance with law due to fear of losing the employment and so employee representation through sponsored trade union ensure bond by employer to any agreement that is passed concerning employees interest. Effectiveness is achieved by ensuring employers comply and by narrativeing any failure by the employer to comply with the law or any made agreement to association of employers or any responsible authority or agency. Employers are likely to act extravagant on the agreement when they are under the pressure of trade unions other than when employees are pushing.Employees have a tendency to act on the agreement made between employer and employees because employer acknowledge that trade unions are independent association that are protected and sceptered by push back relations act.In countries where racism have been know to have great effect on employment environment especially issues regarding promotion and unfair treatment, trade unions have been known to intervene to ensure fair treat of all individual/employees in countries like US where racist is say to exist in most organisations, employees forward their grievances to trade unions because if they kvetch or demand justice, the employer may cover them their serious or may overthrow their contracts or employment.Employees and so though the trade unions present their grievances to civil command and their divergence issue is turn to. Employee representation through sponsored trade unions ensures that employers conform to anti-discrimination law employees with different races, worship age and marital status are treated equally due to inspection by trade union representative.thither have been incidences where the wor king conditions pose a health hazard to the employees yet the salary given cannot cover the extent of risks the employees are exposed. When individual employees complain of their dissatisfaction with the salary based on the risks the employees are exposed to, the employees may be terminated or may be pressurized to quit the job by the employer on the argument that there is bay window supply of labour. The trade unions therefore intervene so that the employees are paid in accordance to the risks they are exposed to. free supply of labour had led to some a(prenominal) employers taking advantage of the function by paying the employees less wage as compared to the amount of work that they do. both(prenominal) employees may not even complain of their exploitation by the employer because they fear loosing their ache look job. In capitalistic societies, where the few are the owners of factors of production, there is high exploitation of the poor people who supply labour to the indu stries.The merchant in capitalistic societies pay ceaseless wage which does not account for all the labour hours. The poor work for more hours. Trade unions in such situation have been known to be agents of social changes which may be radical. The trade unions have contributed to the seizure of the habit by ensuring that employees are paid their worth irrespective of their positions. Trade unions are accredited for presenting the grievances of the poor (Beardwell, 225).In organisation/firms where the employees are umpteen, it proceeds very arduous to address the individual ask. Trade unions therefore collect the individual enquires and try to apply them to the whole group. This is especially the case with civil servants who work in sundry(a) regions of the state in different departments and therefore have different need.The trade unions address those necessarily by holding discussions with government officials and they may challenge the states labour law if they are to the d isadvantage of employees. The trade union in most countries have been known to cause remarkable changes in labour laws for example, setting the minimum wage that should be earned by any employee depending on the nature of job and category of job.Trade unions are effective more than individual employees especially in presenting individual rights since trade unions enjoy some spare from the industrial relations Bill in 2003. The trade unions are able to negotiate for the members interests as association of employers.Trade unions contribute to the formation of government policies concerning resource allocations and other matters that concern employees. Some trade union representatives are incorporated in the government indemnity making through writing proposals which the government use as guide in making the policies.The proposals consider the government resources and the forgiving resource (employees) needs and make suggestions on how the government can integrate both(prenominal) parties demands given the scarce resources. Though, even with the support from government through industrial relations Bill 2003, trade unions are face up with challenge of many cases taking long term to be completed. There have been many pending cases in royal romances as remark in the Irish government (Beardwell, 225).Trade unions have been delegated many duties that concern employee interests. However, trade union cannot represent the employees in full capacity to their employers. This has led to formation of non-union groups in the industries, organisations or firms.These non-union groups are mainly composed of employees who seek to represent the grievances to the employers with an aim of consensus through dialogue. The formation of non-union groups has been triggered by the disillusionments that have been ascertainred by many trade unions in Irish government. The disillusionment is highly attributed by the long period of time that many industrial cases take in labour cour t. In fact, the data from Irish government indicate that few races which may be less than ten cases have actually reached the determination stage (William and Adam Smith, 89). near companies argue that there is scarcity of piece resource in their firm and hence thus most times the labour is misused through denial of holiday leave some employees develop health complications due to overworking or work pressure. Some employees when they report the need to be given lighter job are threatened or are denied the right because of their race, ethnicity or religion. The employees can then sue the concerned organisation through the sponsored trade union for violation of occupational rubber and health act. This has brought positively charged results because employees have complied with the occupational arctic and health act due to the power that trade union are accorded by the industrial relation Act. close trade unions have been know to contribute greatly in the health and safety training of employees and employers and have had positive seismic disturbance on the force f trade union. In cases where the trade unions gain party prefer from employer or association of employers, through recognition, the trade union plans and strategies to address the issues that concern employees become very effective (Blyton,66). or so employers are reluctant to change the working conditions of their employees because they incur extra greet on the firm or organisation. The employers in such cases do not pay attention to employee suggestions or grievances but intervention of trade unions enhance the situation because most employees are alive(predicate) of the privileges that have been accorded trade unions by the industrial relations Act, 2003 (Edwards, 35).When an employer wants to introduce a raw technology that is likely to affect the employees, the employees object the introduction through trade unions. Most employers innovate ways in which to reduce operational costs withou t putting employees needs into consideration. In most cases, the adoption of the technology requires lay off of some employees and this would have an effect on the employees welfare.The trade union takes up the matter and negotiates with the employer on the meeting of the introduction on the economy. Most employers have been known to balance their interests with the employees due to the effective presentation by trade unions.Strikes are common in many nations. Strikes usually occur when the employees fail to act as per their agreement or sometimes strikes are done to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the employers services or treatment. Most employers have been noted to act very aggressively. Some employees gibe ton various studies done in UK have been seen to fire few employees instead and this brought a lot of criticism from employees and public. Trade unions become very crucial in such cases because they present the employees in court and sue for damages caused by the unfair dis missal of the employees. In most cases, when the cases in court are taken up by trade unions, they are acted upon very flying other than individual employees because of the recognition of trade unions.Employees are meant to relate with their employers well. The relationship between employer and employee should portray transparency and commitment by both parties towards the contract that they have entered into. Good employee-employer relationship enhances the achievement of the organisations or firms goal. When there is dialogue between employer and employee, the need for trade unions becomes insignificant.However, very few employers honour the terms and conditions of the contract according to occupational safety and health and yet they expect the employees to comply with the terms and conditions of the employment. The counter blossom of interest between the two parties necessitates the need for an independent association trade union. new(prenominal) wise, compliance by both parti es would prove positive results and would save time and cost on the firm or organisation incurred in legal proceedings.Most employees in UK have fall ined trade unions as shown by the government data. The employees have joined the trade unions because of their recognition for the need of an justice between then and the employees. The employees can exactly be presented if they are members of trade union. The membership is voluntary for all except members of defense.When most employees retire, there is tendency by the employers to fail to pay pensions. Trade unions have noted to be effective in claiming the employees rights especially pension funds. Most domestic jobs however do not have pension schemes for example the house keeping, shopkeeper attendant. This has check the performance of trade unions because however much they want to assist the employees, the nature of job cannot save the intervention of trade unions.Some employees have been known to abuse the trade unions po wer by failing to report of their absence from job and this limited the effectiveness of trade unions in presenting the employees. Negligence by employees through for example, deliberately destroying a telephoners wealth or resources like lighting a cigarette in a petrol station by an employee, cannot be protected. The employers sometimes use the trade unions as puppet to push for their needs and interests. This has led to ineffectiveness of many trade unions which have been disregarded by employers (Blyton, 33).The trade unions can liaise with the labour departments in many states. The relationship between trade unions and labour departments has produced good fruits in many countries because it has increased recognition and the effectiveness of the unions. The trade unions are known to gain favour from most governments hence the grievances of employees are addressed fast when they are represented through a trade union.The employee presentation through sponsored trade union can onl y be effective up to the point where the court ruling has been done. Beyond court ruling the employee presentation through trade union then becomes insignificant. The employees have to stick about to the court ruling whether it favours the employer or employee. Most employees have face disillusionment after the trade unions efforts are undermined by the industrial court (Edwards, 21).Higher presentation of employees in the trade unions has contributed to higher returns or positive results. This has been the inspiration by many employees to join trade unions. The industrial Relation Act in Irish government which was revise in 2003 has been seen to favour trade unions. However, the trade unions have realized their ineffectiveness due to the legislative system where many cases bide in court for so long. The trade unions in Irish government were accorded right to bargain though labour courts and labour Relations Commission were given great powers to resolve recognition and represent ation disputes (Beardwell, 213). many an(prenominal) countries are known to have standardized legislative systems which give industrial Courts right to deal with employees disputes. In countries, industrial courts clear trade unions more than individual employees. This had led to many employees been pressurized by the system to join trade union so that the disputes that have in industrial courts may be dealt with fast especially with intervention of trade unions.When trade unions are pushing for the employees interests, the employees go through at liberty to express them because they go forth not suffer victimization as would be the case if they pursued the interests or grievances as individual employees. The labour relations commissions however, has reported cases of disillusionment the failure of the parties in disputes to meet timescale and deadlines in many instance. The labour relations commission data in Irish government indicate that the failures are in most cases caused b y employers but trade unions are not exempted too.In Europe, most employees even those working in small firms have enrolled into trade unions and this deepen the services delivered to them. However, the effort of trade unions has been undermined by the size and nature of employment.Trade unions are supposed to be independent in their practices that are directed into addressing the employees needs. However, its easier said than done. Some trade union representatives in their leadership positions seek to gain favour from the government. This has led to few trade unions agree their mission and objectives and this has proved ineffectiveness of the trade unions as employee representative. In pursuit of favour from government officials or government itself, some union leaders have evaluate tribes and this caused serious repercussions for the employees grievances. Work CitedBeardwell Ian. A Critical Analysis. Contemporary industrial Relations vol.1 (1996) 212-311.Blyton I & Turnbull P. The Dynamics of Employee Relations.3rd ed. LondonPalgrave, 2004.Edwards P. Industrial Relations Theory and Practice in Britain.2nd ed. Oxford Basil Blackwell, 2003.Williams S and Adam Smith D. Contemporary Employment Relations. Oxford Oxford University Press, 2006.