Whether or not to become a trade union member is a complex decision for every worker with pros and cons to consider.
After all, improved industrial relations lead to higher productivity of employees, improved competitiveness of the businesses and higher living standards for the whole country.
To help you make an informed choice, I have highlighted the most important arguments for and against joining a trade union.
Reasons for joining a trade union
The main reasons for workers joining a trade union include the following benefits:
- ‘Power through solidarity’. By taking advantage of ‘strength in numbers’, trade unions have the ability and influence to engage in collective bargaining on behalf of all of their members. This puts all workers in a stronger position, than if they negotiated individually with the employer to gain higher pay deals and better working conditions.
- Collective industrial actions. If one worker goes on strike, it is not likely to be very effective in a dispute with the employer. But taking collective industrial action could by all workers will have much more influence over employers during industrial disputes. Workers who join together in a trade union have way greater power when dealing with employers, than if they were to do so as individuals.
- Legal support. Trade unions provide legal advice and support to employees who claim illegal treatment, unfair dismissal, poor working conditions of work or who have been injured at work. This puts pressure on employers to ensure that all legal requirements are met as well as that the employer follow all health and safety rules. Otherwise, this legal advice would often be too expensive for individual workers to afford.
Example 1: Trade unions in Malaysia In Malaysia, the 1967 Industrial Relations Act (IRA) governs the activities of trade unions. Some of the main features of the act include protecting the rights of every worker in Malaysia to join or not to join a union, protecting workers from being victimized by employers for joining a union, undertaking collective bargaining on behalf of workers, establishing to arbitrate on industrial-relations disputes, etc.
Arguments against trade unions
The main reasons against trade unions include the following:
- Cause unemployment. While some people claim that trade unions force wages up by minimum wage negotiations and restricting the supply of workers, other countries with minimum wage seem to be doing fine. In other countries without minimum wage, unemployment still exists.
- Unnecessary. In the European Union (EU), strict laws protect workers’ rights over minimum pay, security of employment and working conditions, therefore these laws restrict the independence of management in freely deciding on such issues.
- Introduction of modern technology. Automation and mechanization in some organizations have led to redundancies in the manufacturing sector which used to be the largest segment of union workers.
- More flexible employment opportunities. There has been a growing number of ore part-time workers in the workforce these days which have led to a decline in union membership as they tend not to be unionized.
- Trade unions are becoming weaker. Membership in trade unions is becoming weaker these days as legislation has reduced their power. Additionally, trade union membership is generally falling in most industrialized countries. Here are the main reasons why:
- Government enacts laws that make it easier for people to ‘opt-out’ from being a union member.
- Low inflation in the economy puts less pressure on wages.
- Key industries that have been highly unionized in the past such as coalmining, shipbuilding or steel-making have declining.
- Smaller independent businesses have been on the rise after privatization of unionized industries.
- Growing use of flexible workers and acceptance of flexible working schemes in the society.
- Demographic trends meaning that ageing workforce translated to fewer new recruits.
- Governments restrict union power. A range of government rules and legislation has also led to weakening trade union powers. There are some countries where operating trade unions is still illegal, they activities of a trade union have been strictly controlled. In the last 20 years, legislation in the European Union (EU) have restricted excessive union power through:
- Legal immunity which allows suing for damages caused by strikes falling outside strict guidelines.
- Making secondary picketing by those not directly involved in a dispute illegal.
- Forbidding forcing employees to join union against their will.
- Making trade unions more democratic by enforcing postal ballots, strict reasons only for expulsion, employers getting 7-days-notice of industrial action, etc.
In summary, many people consider trade union membership as an important right, but at the same time, they believe that union power should be controlled. While a trade union will try to protect workers’ rights by discussing with employers any major changes to the workplace that might involve job losses and redundancy, it will also encourage employers to look at other options which might reduce the number of job losses at the same time.
While trade unions have steadily declined in popularity in modern societies with fewer people joining the unions, ultimately, the decision of whether or not to join a trade union is a personal one.
