Human Resource Management Assignment: Unionization and Labor Laws

This homework assignment on Human Resource Management delves into the critical aspects of unionization and collective bargaining. It outlines the five essential steps employees must take to unionize, using Green Branch Coffee as a case study. The assignment examines how collective bargaining can improve workers' conditions, including better wages, working conditions, and benefits, while also fostering positive employer-employee relationships. It further explores the considerations unions must make regarding state right-to-work laws, which prohibit mandatory union dues, and the potential impact on union membership and funding. The assignment highlights the complexities of labor laws and the balance between employee rights and union operations, referencing scholarly articles to support its analysis.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
What is the process that employees will use to unionize?
The employees will have to use five easy and basic steps to unionize Green Branch
Coffee. The first step is to create one organizing committee which will represent all the major
departments and also reflect whether the ethnic, gender and racial diversity is well established
in the workplace. According to scholars, organizing committee needs to be well aware of the
right of the workers to organize and also have a proper understanding of the UE principles
and policies of democracy (Ahlquist, 2017).
The other step is to develop programs of the demands of the unions like the
improvements one wants to achieve and also develop a strategy for an election campaign.
The next step is to ask the co-workers to join and support the union and their programs by
becoming a member. The primary goal is to sign-up fairly large amount of employees. It is
important to use to the signed cards to petition the federal or the state labor board to conduct
an election. The next step is for the committee to win the election so that one can bargain
with the union and consider meeting the demands of the union.
The final step is to negotiate a contract where the workers should be mobilized
enough to support the contract demands of the union and put pressure on the employer to
consider their demands.
How can collective bargaining deliver improvement for workers in the
organization?
Collecting bargaining is basically the procedure of negotiation generally included
within the workplaces which have a union representation. According to scholars, collective
bargaining provides an opportunity to every worker or employee to negotiate for proper and
suitable working conditions, handsome salary or wages and also benefits in exchange for the
compliance of the workers with the expectations of the workplace (Marginson, Keune &

2HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Bohle, 2014). Collective bargaining is seen to represent each and every employee within an
organisation. If an employee is not even part of the union, the benefits received after
negotiation automatically is enjoyed by all the employees. This also helps in establishing a
positive relationship between the employer and the employees. Collective bargaining also
helps in improving the quality of work of every employee in the workplace and also helps in
offering a consistent workplace for all the parties of an organisation which is highly
important.
What does a union have to consider regarding a state’s right to work laws?
Right-to-work is seen to prohibit the labor unions and the employers from making
workers’ pay union dues as the condition of providing employment. The unions need to
consider the fact that the states that have right-to-work laws, the employees or the workers do
not have to pay any membership fees. Thus, this could lead to the unions having very few
members and also very less funds for the unions which can hamper the operations of the
unions. Tang, (2016) states that right-to-work states does not require all the beneficiaries of
the union contract to provide any due to the members however the union has to represent all
the employees under the same contract. Negotiations that are done with the government
regarding benefits and wages are considered to be political decisions has to how much needs
to be compensated to the public employees and the stances taken by the unions sometimes
cannot reflect on the political positions of the members and thus, forcing the workers to
support the positions made by the unions is considered to be violations of the First
Amendment right of the members.

3HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Reference
Ahlquist, J. S. (2017). Labor unions, political representation, and economic
inequality. Annual Review of Political Science, 20, 409-432.
Marginson, P., Keune, M., & Bohle, D. (2014). Negotiating the effects of uncertainty? The
governance capacity of collective bargaining under pressure. Transfer: European
Review of Labour and Research, 20(1), 37-51.
Tang, A. (2016). Public Sector Unions, the First Amendment, and the Costs of Collective
Bargaining. NYUL Rev., 91, 144.