logo

Concept of Trade Union Membership | Australia

   

Added on  2019-11-25

12 Pages2737 Words173 Views
Running Head: TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 1Trade Unions and Employment Relations Name:Institution:Course Code:

TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 2IntroductionThe purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the concept of trade union membership in Australia as a result of its major decline since the 1980s. In addition, the paper will consider the aspects that make unions become irrelevant in Australian Employment Relation. Typically, a trade union can be defined as an organized group of workers that combine ideas and policies in order to protect their working conditions and further their interests and rights. In Australia, trade unions are guided by Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). This council was founded in 1927 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1927, the council of trade unions has become one of the biggest body representing workers in Australia. More than 48 affiliated unions have been formed. However, the membership for trade unions was successful until the 1980s. Since the 1980s, trade union membership has declined in Australia. The paper aims to determine the antecedents and consequences of this decline to Australia Employment Relation. The decline of Trade UnionTrade union membership in Australia has affected both private and public sectors therebylimiting workers from accessing the core services. According to Australia Bureau of Statistics, there has been a significant increase in the number of experts holding a union ticket in Australia. However, at present, the number of professionals affiliated to trade union membership in Australia has declined for the private sector as well as in public sector (Rebecca & Hyman, 2013). The density of union membership in the private sector is estimated to be 10.1%. On the other hand, trade union membership in public sector declined by 4.9 % between 2013 and 2016. The last recorded trade union membership in the public sector in Australia is estimated to be 38.5%.

TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 3There are many reasons behind this decline. Australia unionism has been working so welluntil the 1980s where workers have declined to renew their union membership. Some of the reasons behind this decline include managerial hostility, youth indifferences, and enterprise bargaining along with unfriendly legal frameworks to trade unions. First, managerial hostility hasaffected workers in Australian workforce where top managementhas failed to honor the agreement signed between workers and employers(Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016). For that reason,workers no longer trust unions to present their grievances. Management of trade unions is driven by their personal interest rather than the interest of workers. In that case, workers are left to negotiate for their rights and interest thus making trade union membership irrelevant in Australia.Moreover, the Australia Government has formulated unfriendly laws to trade unions thereby making their operations difficult. For that reasons, workers are also subjected to unfavorable terms by their trading unions so as to fit the legal requirements. Straining workers tofit in unfriendly laws force them to withdraw from trade union membership. Therefore, poor legal frameworks are among the major contributors to declining trade union membership in Australia. Nevertheless, the decline of trade union membership has widely tracked the decreasingshare of jobs for blue-collar workers (Richard, 2013). This decline can be subdivided into three declining periods. The decline between 1954 and 1976 reduced the density of unions from blue-collar working class to lock-step working class. This decision declined workforce share in Australia.Another period of trade union decline occurred between 1971 and 1996 (Rothbard, 2007).This decline took place at a relatively slower pace as compared to the blue-collar share of the workforce. In this period, unions had managed to recruit more workers in the white-collar section. However, since the 1980s, the decline in trade union membership declined due to

TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 4managerial hostility, youth indifferences, and enterprise bargaining along with unfriendly legal frameworks to trade unions. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) reviewed trade union membership and categorized union members into three sections. That is a skilled and semi-skilled worker, blue-collar workers, managers,and professionals. These unions focused on maximizing wages and salaries for workers. Most of the members in Australia join trade unions for three major reasons. That is dissatisfaction with financial aspects of the economy, to influence working conditions viaunion oriented means as well as benefits associated with union outweigh on costs expected from membership (Risak, 2010). Despite the desires for members to join trade unions in Australia, there has been a decline in the membership thereby resulting in certain consequences in Australian trade union membership. These consequences affect workers in Australia. They also affect trade unions thereby making them irrelevant in Australia Employment Relation. The consequence of Decline of Trade Union Membership in AustraliaThe decline of trade union membership in Australia affects many stakeholders within workforce industry. Some of the stakeholders include workers, trade unions,and Australian Government. The main work of trade unions in Australia is to negotiate for better salaries, wagesand better working conditions for workers. With the decline in membership, workers do not havea representative for their grievances. From Australian trade union point of view, workers are affected negatively bya decline in the membership (Ryan & Deci, 2017). For that reason, Australia has experienced a growing concentration of income. It has also resulted in increased inequality in the workforce sector. The decline in membership has affected working hours for workers in Australia. The employers are taking advantage of this scenario to exploit workers. The workers are exposed to long working hours because they do not have trade unions to protect

End of preview

Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.

Related Documents
Decline of Australian Unionism Essay 2022
|9
|1939
|37

Decline of Trade Union Membership in Australia: Antecedents and Consequences
|10
|2699
|245

The condition of the union has become worse
|12
|2878
|32

Employment Relations
|9
|2779
|60

Decline in Union Membership in Australia
|10
|2655
|12

Concept of Trade Union - Essay
|10
|2214
|49