The Last Breath of Trade Unions: An Analysis of the Sinking Ship Without the Captain to Rescue (original) (raw)
2023, American Journal of International Business Management
The study aims to explore the significance, relevance, and sustainability of modern trade unionism in the current complex global labor market, characterized by the swift evolution of work dynamics. It delves into the historical significance, contemporary challenges, and potential future trajectories of trade unions globally. The research study traces the emergence and evolution of trade unions, highlighting their pivotal role in advocating for workers" rights amidst industrialization, colonization, and social change. While acknowledging their historical achievements, the review discusses trade unions" existential threats and declining influence in the modern economic landscape. Key findings of the study include unions swiftly approaching their demise and lacking the leadership to rescue them, difficulty adapting to changing workplace dynamics, deficiencies in social dialogue skills during negotiations and trade unions are operational and not strategic. The authors employed a secondary research approach to analyze the subject matter. The study offers recommendations emphasizing the importance of prioritizing job security, adopting a collaborative approach to negotiations, considering participation in labor laws that decrease labor expenses, and creating strategies to penetrate emerging markets in alternative forms of employment to address the challenges.
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TRADE UNIONS and THEIR SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE FUTURE[#508606]-619439.pdf
TRADE UNIONS and THEIR SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE FUTURE, 2018
In a time when change is accelerating and an awareness that dictates that values and organisations to be reconsidered, and the concepts of the industrial society such as workmanship and employership are being restudied as phenomena that change with new transitions, union managers too clearly state the need for restructuring. Due to technological development, the rate of white-collar workers in the workforce has risen against the blue-collar workers. An important change that has been a factor and a result of the change in economic prosperity and transition to high technology has been the rise of average levels of education and learning. The workforce, comprised mostly of highly-skilled white-collar workers who are better educated than previous generations and possess a higher income level, has seen a change in attitude and behavior in the matters of unionization and labor struggle. In addition to this, business managements also develop management techniques such as human resources management that enable employees to participate, and develops conflict free relationships by establishing a direct dialogue with employees with applications such as quality circles, team work and satisfaction surveys. Trade unions are required to create new organizational structures to satisfy the needs of rapid change in technology and the new position of the workforce with knowledge. On the other hand, developments in the aftermath of the 1980s led to neo-liberal policies taking over the whole world. Dismissals under the name of flexible labour market, subcontracting, precarious work and unregistered employment are becoming more and more common. The working class has lost the benefits it gained through organized struggle. In the face of the fact that traditional trade union organization is constantly weakening, it is a necessity to discuss alternative searches. If the workers’ unions will exist in the future, it will be extremely difficult for them to achieve this with their current traditional identities. In this respect, the time for the workers’ unions to create a new vision is long overdue. In this study, a conceptual study on alternatives for the future vision search of unions will be presented.
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