Unions and Their Impact on the USA Organizations Essay

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Among all freedoms and rights which people have gained over the past century, the right to have the support of a labor union for numerous employees must be one of the most important achievements. With the help of labor unions, the working conditions can be improved considerably, numerous conflicts can be solved and a number of social benefits have become available; yet to embrace the entire impact which labor unions have on the contemporary society, a full definition must be provided and the influence of labor unions in the present-day world must be researched.

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Trade unions have been established not so long ago, yet they have proved quite efficient over the past few decades. According to Wadley (2008), the following definition can be offered for the given phenomenon:

The definition of a labor or trade union has also been defined as “a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives” will serve, provided that it is understood to be no longer restricted to wage earners but to encompass also white-collar, professional, governmental, and even managerial personnel. (61)

Therefore, it can be claimed that the labor unions are supposed to regulate the labor relationships, maintaining them within the allowed boundaries. In addition, labor unions are supposed to make certain that the employees are provided with the proper necessities which allow them to enjoy decent working conditions. In addition, according to Wadley (2008), unions are also supposed to regulate the relationships between the employees and the managerial, establishing the boundaries within which the latter and the former are supposed to work and socialize. Therefore, it can be considered that unions are the supreme authorities for solving the conflicts between the employees and the managerial when it comes to the working conditions and social injustice concerning a certain enterprise. Despite the fact that the labor union is not technically allowed to interfere the work of an organization, as Wadley (2008) explains, the former is still able to right the wrongs and defend the interests and freedoms of employees.

As for the changes of employees’ relations, strategies and policies and the impact which these changes will have on the employees’ performance, one can claim that the environment in which people work can have great impact on the results. According to Thomas (2006), “positive employee relations impact organizational functioning via enhanced collective worker quality, motivation and productivity but also via the existence of idiosyncratic and hard-to-imitate internal assets” (378); in addition, the author reassures that “positive employee relations are associated with better organizational performance” (378). Therefore, it can be suggested that the positive working environment enhances the productivity, while any negative deviation blocks the working process. It can be argued, though, that the absence of any obstacles whatsoever might provoke the lack of thrill and, hence, make the employees lose the interest towards the working process, accepting it as a boring necessity (Thomas, 2006). Yet it must be kept in mind that, when offering the employees numerous difficulties to overcome and many challenges to fight, one is likely to expect that the workers will be completely out of breath soon. Therefore, the balance between reasonable challenges and comfortable environment must be kept in an organization. As Biech (2011) explains,

In a system, the quality of relationships is more important for high performance than the quality of individual parts. Once they assess the quality of their relationship, employee and manager discuss any gaps and make decisions to take action to correct any misconceptions or damage done previously. (Biech 2011)

Despite the fact that the given assumption seems completely logical and should be taken as a model strategy for the managerial and employees to follow, the given system is quite frankly inapplicable on the scale of a great enterprise. While working well in minor companies where the employees can establish their relations with the managerial directly, in the environment of greater corporations, the development of relationships between the office workers and the employers is greatly slackened. At this point, labor unions should represent the interests of the employees and communicate the demands of the latter to the companies’ leaders.

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However, when it comes to discussing the significance of labor unions in the United States, one must admit that the role and the influence of the latter have been taken down to the lowest common denominator of a useless mascot for a long-forgotten movement. Because of the decrease in the Left movement, the impact of the unions on the life of ordinary workers as well as organizations has shrunk greatly. According to what Schiavone (2008) says,

Despite evidence that unions help ordinary Americans, among the Left, and especially among the newer generation of activists, it is argued that the labor movement is a dinosaur. They also argue that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and new social movements can rise up and challenge unfettered capitalism, which will lead to workers again receiving a fairer slice of economic pie. (Schiavone, 2008, 2)

Thus, in the modern USA, the role of the unions has been somewhat downplayed, mostly because of the fact that the impact of the Labor Party and the Left movement has decreased over the time. Hence, it can be concluded that at present, the guarantees that the working conditions of American employees meet every single standard can possibly dissolve as well, which means that the concern for the decreasing significance of union labors is justified. Once unions lose the remaining of their influence on the companies, it can be expected that the employees will remain without sufficient help and protection. Consequently, numerous violations of the legitimate interests of workers can be expected.

Therefore, it is obvious that with the help of labor unions, the life of the today employees, workers and even managerial has become considerably less complicated; with the benefits and the improvements offered by the labor unions for the employees in most organizations, the work of the former has to be encouraged. Unfortunately, at present, labor unions in the USA face another crisis, which means that employees are under the threat of remaining without sufficient support while working for corporations. Nevertheless, according to the tendencies mentioned above, there is still hope that, taking the right course, people will be able to revive labor unions, thus, providing employees with sufficient safety. Thus, it can be expected that in the nearest future, labor unions are likely to grow into even more powerful bodies which will assist employees and protect their interests in case conflicts between the employees and the company leaders emerge.

Reference List

Biech, E. (2011). The 2012 Pfeiffer annual: Consulting. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Schiavone, M. (2008). Union in crisis? The future of organized labor in America. Westport, CN: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Thomas, J. C. (2006). Comprehensive handbook of personality and psychopathology (Vol. 1). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

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Wadley, J. H. III. (2008). Law, investigation, and the collective bargaining. Agreement. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

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IvyPanda. 2020. "Unions and Their Impact on the USA Organizations." May 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/unions-and-their-impact-on-the-usa-organizations/.

1. IvyPanda. "Unions and Their Impact on the USA Organizations." May 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/unions-and-their-impact-on-the-usa-organizations/.


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