Labor Relations: Interaction Among Key Actors - Essay Sample

Introduction

Labor relation is a system in which the government either directly or indirectly interacts with employers and employees and their representatives and sets rules that govern work relationships (Trebilcock, 2011). Also referred to as industrial relations, the labor relations system explains the interaction among the main actors in the system: the state, employer(s) or employers association, employees either in or not in unions or other employee representation and the trade unions (Trebilcock, 2011). A labor relations system embraces different worker participation forms, collective bargaining, and mechanisms for dispute resolution, both collectively and individual disputes. Societal values such as freedom of association and techniques such as methods of negotiations are incorporated in the labor relations system, implying that both public and private interests are at stake (Trebilcock, 2011). The following paper will review videos and describe which labor perspective each video adopts while identifying assumptions speakers make about labor relations, features of the perspective found in each video, and a justification for the selection of the perspective in the video.

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There are three labor relation perspectives; Unitarism, Marxism, and pluralism Trebilcock, 2011). Unitarism perspective perceives an organization as a harmonious and integrated system. It assumes that members in the organization have common interests, objectives, and purpose and work together in achieving mutual goals. Trade unions are considered unnecessary, and conflicts are taken to be disruptive. The pluralism perspective argues that organizations are made up of different groups that are powerful-trade unions and management and considers the conflict of interest as inescapable and thus normal Trebilcock, 2011). Collective bargaining solves disputes, and trade unions act as legitimate representatives for employees. Marxist perspective (radical perspective) argues that conflicts in the workplace occur due to "class struggle," which is results from a disparity between workers supplying labor and capitalists who create wealth through the exploitation of such labor. As such, the natural response in a radical perspective is trade unions, which protect workers against exploitation by the capitalist.

The video, "Labor Relations - Employee Relations Expert Jason Greer - Unions Creating Chaos in Your Business?" by Greer (2014), adopts the Unitarism perspective. Greer (2014) emphasizes methods to defeat union organizing tactics and ways to identify signs of union activity before they affect an organization. Unions are considered masters at creating chaos in organizations through convincing at least 30% of employees to sign union authorization cards, which facilitates follow up on an NLRN petition. Unions target employees along with a rating system which includes; pro-union, leaning towards the union, undecided employees, leaning towards the union, and pro-company. Unions then use Pro-union employees in accessing what is happening in the company. Unions are, therefore, in a position to create friction between employees and have a competitive advantage in convincing employees to sign union authorization cards. The speaker in this video seems to assume that organizations do not need unions if they manage their employees appropriately.

Features of the Unitarian perspective in the video include staffing policies that motivate employees, proper communication of objectives, rewards systems to foster loyalty, and need to integrate individual employee needs to organizational needs, flexible work practices, sound employment conditions, and enabling employee participation. For example, Greer (2014) gives a mitigation strategy that organizations should know and understand their employees and their motivation, which supports the perspectives feature in motivating employees. Further, staff management conflict is another feature since the speaker emphasis addressing concerns before they become conflicts, acquiring the best employees, and enabling them to be successful.

I believe that the video reflects the Unitarian perspective because it emphasizes strategies to avoid union influence in an organization and points on knowing and understanding employees and their motivation to ensure they work harmoniously to achieve a common goal and avoid conflicts.

In the second video, "Labour and Union Relations by Susan Haywood from HR Blueprints" by Hrblueprints (2012), the labor relation perspective adopted is a pluralism perspective. Susan Haywood argued that employers often complain about the union's role in their organization, their attitude and behavior, and activities by unions that disrupt the union. She, however, assumes that there must be a mutual relationship between employer and unions and that the behavior of one party will impact the behavior of the other party and consequently, the labor relations. There is a collective agreement between employer and union, and the management should understand that the union exists to play a role and is part of the organizational dynamic. The two parties, unions, and employer, compliments how the dynamic of the organization works. An organization chooses the union it deserves. She gives an example that reflects the mutual relationship that exists between employer and union and the role each plays in case of a conflict. Labor relations are successful when the union and organizational management have a functional relationship.

Pluralism features evident in this video include independent arbitrators to resolve disputes, recognition of the union, and their role, collective agreements between union and organization, a specialist in labor relation regarding union negotiation and consultation. For example, the speaker insists on the need to have a collective agreement that works for both parties and acknowledges that organization management must understand and recognize unions and their roles as their behavior towards the union impacts the labor relationship.

This video reflects the pluralism perspective in that it emphasizes the need for a mutual relationship between unions and organizations. Collective agreement and bargaining resolve the disputes which should be encouraged, anticipated, and resolved amicably through agreed mechanisms. The video also encouraged collective agreement, and continued relationship between the parties despite a conflict since the attitude and behavior of the organization would affect the behavior of the union towards the organization. As such, organizations should aim to create a conducive environment for employees to maintain a mutual relationship with unions, which are legit representatives of the employees.

In the third video, "The Big Picture: Strengthen Unions" by MoveOn (2015), the Marxist perspective is adopted. The speaker, Robert Reich, makes the assumption that inequality has increased at an alarming rate, and unions have also weakened and argue that labor unions must be strengthened. Evident features of the Marxist perspective in the video include inequality in labor relations and the role of unions in protecting against capitalism. For example, Robert Reich asserted that 50 years ago, unions raised wages, improved working conditions for workers, and implemented legal protections like work safety. However, union membership has decreased significantly, exhibiting a decline of the middle class and inequality in labor relations. Strong unions translated to the strong middle class and a consequently strong economy. The fall in the middle class is another feature of Marxist perspective where conflicts in employment relationships occur due to the struggle for a class, which again results from the disparity in the labor market.

The video reflects the Marxist perspective in that it points out the significant decrease in union membership over the years, which has also decrease the middle class. Robert Reich argued that to strengthen unions, it must be made more accessible to form a union. However, big employers campaign against unions and have a chance to do so due to procedural hurdles and long delays. This indicates the exploitation of workers' labor supply by the capitalist. The speaker asserted that real penalties must be put in place for organizations violating labor laws by firing employees who organize unions.

Further, federal laws must be enacted to overturn state right to work, which destroys unions by denying unions resources to protect workers against exploitation. The right to work policy reduces wages by approximated $6000 compared to states without the policy and the likelihood for an employee to get health insurance and pension coverage. As such, this video emphasizes the need to unionize to get a fair share of the economy and protect an employee from exploitation.

In the final video, "Interview Richard Hyman, Professor, London School of Economics," by ETUI Brussels (2014), the speaker, Richard Hyman, adopts a mix of perspectives, the pluralism, and Marxist perspective. Labor relations issue is assumed to involve macro political and macroeconomic dynamics (ETUI Brussels, 2014). Financialization of economies such as financialized global capitalism has been pointed out to create more insecurities, and trade unions must put up with structures that encourage social justice and equity (ETUI Brussels, 2014). At this point, we may argue that capitalism features constitute the Marxist perspective where macroeconomic and macro-political issues are creating inequality in the labor market and oppressing the employees. The pluralism perspective is evident in the fact that there is a conflict between issues arising from macroeconomic and macro-political dynamic and trade unions must develop a strategy to ensure social justice and equity is ensured.

I think the video reflects a mix of perspectives since the identified macroeconomic issues are broad. To ensure social justice and equality, coordinated social actions by unions would arise form structures of the situation. As such, the choice of perspective depends on the understanding of the participant's structurally-determined behavior, which explains, supports, and rationalizes specific constraints. In the above video, since the financialization of economies seems to be a threat and trade unions must act to ensure social justice and equality, the macroeconomic issue guides their action at play as well as the macro-political issue bringing about the inequality and social injustice.

References

ETUI Brussels. (2014, October 2). Interview Richard Hyman, Professor, London School of Economics, 25.09.14. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNfK0YFyZ8E

Greer, J. (2014, October 30). Labor Relations - Employee Relations Expert Jason Greer - Unions Creating Chaos in Your Business? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjzNTKBm0

GEHrblueprints. (2012, March 28). Labour and Union Relations by Susan Haywood from HR Blueprints. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygn3o5lOqds

MoveOn. (2015, May 28). The Big Picture: Strengthen Unions. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWtX3fHUJw4Trebilcock, A. (2011). Labour Relations and Human Resources Management: An Overview. Geneva: ILO available online at www. ilo. org/iloenc/part iii.