INSTRUCTIONS: 150 WORDS RESPONSE
RESPONSE #1
From an employee perspective, what are the three advantages of working in a unionized organization?
In working for a unionized organization, employees conform together to negotiate with management as a collective unit this collective bargaining power enables employees to negotiate better wages, benefits, and working conditions than they might be able to achieve alone (Collective bargaining agreement). By working together and imposing their collective, unionized employees have a stronger voice in shaping their workplace policies and ensuring equality.
Unionized organizations often formalize processes for handling layoffs, terminations, and disciplinary actions. Through collective bargaining agreements, unions can work protections for employees against arbitrary firings or layoffs, ensuring that decisions concerning job security are made fairly and transparently. Also, unions can negotiate provisions for seniority-based rights, such as preferential rehiring and advancement opportunities, that may provide greater stability and peace of mind for employees.
Unionized employees typically have access to a grievance plan of action through their union representatives. These procedures provide a structured mechanism for resolving workplace disputes, grievances, and conflicts between employees and management. By having a delegated representative to advocate on their behalf, employees can address troubles related to workplace conditions, discrimination, harassment, or contractual violations in a fair and unbiased manner.
Therefore, a unionized organization can offer employees greater bargaining power, job security, and access to formalized grievance procedures, elevating more equitable and stable work conditions.
What are the three disadvantages?
Unionized employees are typically required to pay union dues in order of membership. These dues are commonly deducted from member’s pay each pay period to fund activities, including collective bargaining efforts, representation, and advocacy. These dues support the benefits provided by the union, however, some view it as a burden.
Although a unionized organization, individuals may lack the resources to negotiate their terms of employment. Collective bargaining agreements negotiated by unions apply to all employees covered by contracts, meaning that an individual’s preferences or needs may not be fully accommodated, which generates a conflict of interest in an employee wanting to negotiate their terms of employment (Union diadvantages.com).
Unionized organizations may experience conflicts of interest between management and labor as well, mainly during collective bargaining negotiations or disputes over an employee wanting to negotiate their terms of employment. Regardless, while working in a unionized organization provides advantages such as collective bargaining power, job security, and attainable representation, it also entails disadvantages such as union dues, overlooking of individual negotiating power, and potential for conflict with management (collective bargaining agreement).
Reference
Collective bargaining agreement-AFL-CIO.com., Pynes, J. (2013). Human Resources Management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach. Jossey Bass Inc. Union disadvantages.com
RESPONSE#2
Some advantages, from an employee perspective, of working within a unionized organization are:
1. In some cases, the right to strike when a collective bargaining impasse has been reached. For most employees whose positions will not compromise the welfare of the general public (such as first responders), the right to strike when no agreement can be made on mandatory and permissive topics allows employees to advocate for themselves in a manner which forces a decision to be made
2. Access to benefits is another advantage of working within unions. Unions, generally, are there to advocate for employees as a whole within an organization and ensure access to certain benefits and salaries. Where non-unionized organizations can offer different salaries to different employees subject to negotiation at time of hiring or offer varying benefits packages, a union can advocate for a clear line and negotiate on behalf of the employee
3. General support system in a large and often depersonalizing civil service boards. The size of government makes it easy for individual employees to become lost in translation and result in favoritism where career advancement and recognition is concerned. Organizations with unions prevent individual employees from falling through the cracks and reconcile collective bargaining with civil service merit systems, protecting the activity of employees whilst also preventing them from being isolated
However, unions are not entirely advantageous for employees. Some disadvantages of working within a union are:
1. Membership of a union may not always be free. The Labor-management relations acts “contain provisions for union security devices that address the degree to which unions can compel union membership or mandate the payment of dues to support their activities” (Pynes, 2013), outlining that, in the public sector at least, joining a union is optional for employees, but financial dues might be required in order to gain access to the advantages that a union offers.
2. Membership of a union may not always be optional. “Under a union shop provision, all unit employees are required to join the exclusive bargaining representative after being hired” (Pynes, 2013). While federal employees cannot be required to join unions, laws vary at the state or non-profit levels, meaning not every employee has the option of joining a union.
3. Tyranny of the majority is another disadvantage of unionized organizations. When selecting an exclusive bargaining representative, a simple majority of 51% of the votes will determine the representative for all employees, including the 49% who voted against the representative. From an employee perspective, this could potentially lead to concerns regarding priorities in collective bargaining agreements to lack of confidence in representation of concerns.
References
Pynes, J. (2013). Human Resource Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Strategic Approach (4th Edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA.
