Employee voice: Does union membership matter? Essay (Article)

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Summary

Past research in the field off industrial relations revealed that employee voices are best represented by the trade unions. Unfortunately, there is a recent decline in unionism, a fact that has led to the establishment of new nonunion means of employee voice representation by the employers. These channels concentrate on employee voice; however, it has failed to put into consideration employees’ perceptions.

This article suggests that the employee perception of voice is divergent between the different ranks of the institution. Additionally, it recommends that trade unions will possibly augment employee perceptions of voice at a wider institutional level. The study involved 2949 employees of a public sector scientific organization in Australia. Contrary to the expectations of the research, it was noted that union membership had a momentous pessimistic impact on employee voice at the institution level (Benson & Michelle 85).

This unanticipated result might be attributed to union member’s dissatisfaction with the management and organization process like communication and members’ participation in decision-making processes. Moreover, most union members were discontented with their jobs than nonunion members. However, this was as a result of the unfair selection of employees. The study also revealed that employees, who had higher ambitions as pertains to their employment life, were likely to join the union.

This was evident when 63.8% of union members commented that their primary motives for joining a union were to enable them have a say on what affects them. The findings of this study might also be as a result of unions presenting their administration difficulties to the members instead of addressing problems. Thus, members seem not to benefit; instead, they waste time solving other issues (Benson & Michelle 87).

Analysis

The first author of this article is John Benson a professor in the ‘school of management at the University of South Australia’. His researches are mainly about employment relations and human resource administration. He has published more than a hundred academic journals. In addition, he has published and showcased eight books.

The second author is Michelle brown ‘an associate professor of management in the department of management at the University of Melbourne’. She focuses her research on administration of human resource and industrial relations. In addition, she has published four books, over twenty academic journals and various book chapters.

The two are experts in human management issues, a fact that makes this article reliable and authentic. The article is well written as it touches on the vital issues affecting the employees’ voice. Additionally, the article seems to identify the problems faced by employees and goes ahead to give their solutions. The article is also well written as it discusses in detail the findings of the study.

The article has more facts than inferences. One of the facts is that the most union members do not like their jobs. This is true because most employees who join the unions are in a way having problems or conflicts with their employers.

Hence, they perceive the union as the platform to present their grievances. On the other hand, most nonunion members are satisfied with their jobs as they have few or no disagreements with their employers, so they do not see the importance of joining unions.

The other fact is that, most of the union members say that they joined their respective unions because they wanted a place through which they could have a say on the issues that affect them. This is because as mentioned earlier employees who join the unions have conflicts with their employers, so they try so hard to make their employer hear and act on their grievances through their union leaders.

One inference identified in this article is the issue that most union members do not like their union’s leadership. They argue that they are tired of being presented with the union’s problems instead of the union solving their problems. This seems to be an assumption because there are unions that are running so well without difficulty.

Strengths of the authors’ arguments come up when they present the implications of the findings on policy and research. Here, they argue that these findings have implications on unions as members are less likely to report an institution voice, as well as, to nonmembers.

In addition, they argue that the findings have implications on human resource management especially on matters concerning participative involvement of personnel. The authors highlight that; institutions can use these findings to structure training programs for their workers. One of the author’s weaknesses is the fact that the scope of the study presented is not satisfactory.

This is because the sample population used for the study is so restricted and can not be used to represent the general population. I believe the article presents adequately issues concerning workers representations in the unions and difficulties they undergo. I also share the same sentiments as the authors concerning the view of union members. This is the fact hat they feel they are not well represented by the unions.

Application

Unions can use the findings of this research to ensure that they recruit a manageable number of members. This will place them in a position where they can address the problems of each member. Additionally, an employer can use this information to encourage the employee to join various unions that will address their issues.

This is essential because the workers will have a voice through which they can reach their employer. This helps in reducing the level of discrimination the workers might face incase their employers comes across their expressions. It is thus noteworthy that the information in this article is essential as it can be applied by both the employer and the employee.

Conclusion

This item presents findings of a research carried out on 2949 employees of a public sector scientific organization. The article is well written since it adequately addresses issues related to employee rights and how they feel about their representation in unions.

The authors reveal that most of the union members are not satisfied with the management of unions. Thus, the unions do not represent them since they fail to address their grievances to the relevant authorities. Instead, they waste a lot of time solving problems related to the union’s administration.

Work Cited

Benson, John & Michelle, Brown. Employee voice: does union membership matter? Human Resource Management Journal, 20 (2010): 80–99. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2018, July 27). Employee voice: Does union membership matter? https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-voice-does-union-membership-matter/

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"Employee voice: Does union membership matter?" IvyPanda, 27 July 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/employee-voice-does-union-membership-matter/.

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IvyPanda. (2018) 'Employee voice: Does union membership matter'. 27 July.

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IvyPanda. 2018. "Employee voice: Does union membership matter?" July 27, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-voice-does-union-membership-matter/.

1. IvyPanda. "Employee voice: Does union membership matter?" July 27, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-voice-does-union-membership-matter/.


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IvyPanda. "Employee voice: Does union membership matter?" July 27, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-voice-does-union-membership-matter/.

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