Employee Relations: The Role of Unions in the Modern Workplace

This report delves into the dynamic field of employee relations, focusing on the evolving role of labor unions in the contemporary business landscape. It begins by acknowledging the historical significance of unions in establishing professional standards and securing employee rights. However, it then critically assesses the relevance of unions in today's environment, considering factors such as the decline in union membership, the rise of flat organizational structures, and the prevalence of contract-based and freelance work arrangements. The report highlights the need for unions to adapt their strategies, emphasizing the importance of embracing digital platforms and social movements to effectively represent employees' interests. It argues that despite the changing landscape, unions remain a powerful force and must negotiate for better pay and flexible working conditions. The report concludes by suggesting that unions should reinvent their structures and tactics to remain relevant in the face of economic challenges and evolving employee needs.

Running head: EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
Employee Relations
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There is no gain stating the fact that the labour unions have indeed played a crucial role
during the 19th to20th century, in establishing professional standards for various industries and
securing employee rights for all the workers, in terms of getting benefits like minimum wage,
healthy working conditions, maternity leave and others. However, in today’s world, the average
job tenure of employees has fallen to as low as 4.4 years and hence the bargaining agreements
between the union representing the employee perspectives and the employers make little sense.
First of all, before arguing against the importance of trade unions representing
employees’ needs in the present world, it is important to state that most of the organizations
operate in flat hierarchies, and the team-based works they engage in, make it difficult to
distinguish “labour” and “management”. Besides, unlike the traditional work environment
scenario, many employees presently work on contracts, are self-employed or are working as
freelancers, and in such a dynamic working scenario, the traditional unions have little or nothing
to do. Amongst the other nations, Australia is also one of the least unionised countries where a
mere fifteen percent of Australian employees are affiliated with any traditional labour union.
Among the young, the participation rate is as low as 6%. The same holds true for USA, Nrth
Carolina or South Dakota, where only 3% of the employees have connection with the unions
(Barrows, 2017).
According to the research report submitted by Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development, the trade union membership of the employees has been experiencing a sharp
decline. The major reason behind the decline lies in the inability of the union members to adapt
to the present scenario. The trade unions can still remain relevant, if they can adapt themselves to
the structural changes of the economy. With the increased rise of the service sector, growth of
the small firms as well as downsizing of the government, the union will need to re-adjust and

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adapt itself to suit the present needs. The unions, in the present world cannot operate if they still
adapt the union movement strategy of the past decades, and can only survive if they can adopt a
more dynamic, internet-based society and financial world. To substantiate this argument, one can
refer to the 2011 incident when the customers getting upset over the Bank of America for
charging people for using debit cards, used Internet-based social media to protest and forced the
company to back-down (Hassel, 2014). Thus, there is always a future for the labour unions, if
they agree to re-invent their structures and tactics of operation. The labour unions should try to
eliminate its collective bargaining process, and focus on creating social movement pressures
while trying to represent the employees.
Given the present period of economic depression, it would be extremely an indiscreet
decision for the management authority of an organization to count out the labour unions. The
union still remains a powerful force in today’s world, and it does need to come forward to
negotiate for better pay and flexible working conditions, in the competitive market. However, it
needs to embrace new forms to execute the historic function of representing the employee needs
and concerns.

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Reference List:
Barrows, T. S. (2017). What do unions do?: a twenty-year perspective. Routledge.
Hassel, A. (2014). Trade unions and the Future of Democratic Capitalism.