Unions Essay -- essays research papers

WHY HAVE UNIONS WITNESSED A DECLINE IN MEMBERSHIP IN RECENT YEARS? ITRODUCTION WHAT ARE UNIONS? UNIONS ARE INFLUENTIAL AND BROADLY BASED ORGANIZATIONS WHICH REPRESENT IT’S MEMBERS, WHO ARE USUALLY EMPLOYEE’S. THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG IN AUSTRALIA AND EXPERIENCED MIXED RESPONSES FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC AS WELL AS EMPLOYER’S. OBJECTIVES OF A UNION: THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF A UNION IS TO PROVIDE OR IMPROVE THE WELL-BEING OF IT’S MEMBER’S. IT WAS FORMED TO COUNER THE SUPERIOR ECONOMIC POWER OF EMPLOYER’S. IT’S MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION IS TO MAXIMISE WAGES AND SALARIES SUBJECT TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT CONSTAINTS AND TO RAISE THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH WORK IS DONE. WHY DO EMPLOYEE’S JOIN UNONS? AN EMPLOYEE CAN BE MOTIVATED BY INSTUMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS, IDEOLOGICAL BELIEFS OR SIMPLY COMPULSION, BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE 3 MAJOR FACTORS THAT LEAD EMPLOYEES TO BE UNIONIZED: DISSATISFACTION WITH THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE JOB DESIRE TO INFLUENCETHOSE ASPECTS OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT THROUGH UNION ORIENTATED MEANS BELIEF THAT BENEFITS OF UNIONISM OUTWEIGH EXPECTED COSTS MOST COMMONLY, EMPLOYEE’S JOIN BECAUSE OF THEIR COMMITTMENT TO THE VALUES OR PRINCIPLES OF UNIONISM. (INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS- A CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS, DEERY S., PLOWMAN D., WALSH J. P 7.16) WHY ARE UNIONS WITNESSING DECLINE? THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE REASONS TO SUGGEST THE DECLINE IN MEMBERSHIP BUT 3 FACTORS STAND OUT: 1.) CHANGING COMPOSITION OF EMPLOYMENT - PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR MOST OF THE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH THAT OCCURED IN THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY IN THE 80’S AND 90’S WAS CONFINED TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR WHOSE UNION DENSITY RATE OF 25 % WAS CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR WHICH WAS 56 %. IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT PUBLIC ENPLOYMENT FELL ALMOST 8 %. - STUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE MIX OF INDUSTRIES, SECTORS AND OCCUPATIONS. A CONTINUING DECLINE IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR TO OTHER SECTORS IN THE INDUSTRY. THE PROLIFERATION OF NON REGULAR FORMS OF EMPLOYMENT, PARTICULARLY CASUAL JOBS AND SELF-EMPLOYMENTAT THE EXPENSE OF TRADITONAL FULL TIME JOBS. BUT UNIONS ARE SEEMED TO BE BLAMED FOR THE LOW LEVEL REPRESENTATION OF CASUALS. UNIONS DO NOT RECRUIT CASUALS AS ASSIDUOUSLY AS FULL TIMERS, BECAUSE UF THE HIGH ORGANIZATIONAL COSTS INVOLVED. - SIZE OF THE FIRMS 70 % OF SMALL WORKPLACES WITH 5-19 EMPLOYEE’S HAD NO UNION MEMBER’S COMPARED WITH ONLY 4 % OF LARGE WOR... ...AND THEREAFTER FROM 1901 UNTIL 1921 WHERE UNION MEMBERSHIP GREW FROM VIRTUALLY 0 TO MORE THAN HALF OF THE AUSTRALIAN WORKFORCE, AND AGAIN A SLUMP UNTIL 1924. AS RESTRUCTURING IS IMPORTANT AND VITAL TO UNION MOVEMENTS, IT IS TIME CONSUMING AND IS A PROCEDURE WHICH HAS TO BE SLOWLY PHASED IN, DUE TO THESE FACTORS IT IS REGARDEDAS LONG TERM AND CANNOT BE CORRECTED OVERNIGHT. TO CONCLUDE, WE HAVE LOOKED AT ALL THE REASONS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECLINING UNION MEMBERS IN AUSTRALIA. IN SPECULATION IT CAN BE SEEN THAT WHEN THIS DECLINE STARTED, WHAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE DECLINE AND THE EFFECTS SUFFERED BY UNIONS BECAUSE OF THIS DECLINE. BY COMPARING AUSTRALIA’S MEMBERSHIP DECLINE TO THAT OF OTHER COUNTRIES FACED WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS, IT CAN BE SEEN THAT THE FALL OF MEMBERSHIP HAS BEEN MODERATE. AS THIS PAPER OUTLINES, ALL THE VARIOS CAUSES CONTRIBUTING TO THESE PROBLEMS AND THE DIFFERENT SECTORS IN THE INDUSTRY FROM WHICH THESE PROBLEMS ORIGINATE, IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT UNIONS ARE FACED WITH A DIFFICULT TASK OF RESTRUCTURING, BUT AS IN THE PAST WHERE THERE HAS BEEN DECREASES AND INCREASES IN UNION MEMBERSHIP, TIME WILL SHOW THE UNPREDICTABLE SHIFTS IN UNION MEMBERSHIPS IN AUSTRALIA.