Labor Unions Labor Union Is

Labor Unions labor union is a representative group that can bargain with management on such diverse issues as wages, working conditions, relations, and even health care coverage. They can also recommend to the union members certain actions be taken by the membership in order to influence the outcome of such bargaining. Unions are also known for the influence they wield in regards to politics and implementing or changing laws that affect their membership(s).

Many union members believe and desire their unions to wield this influence and often times expect them do so. One such organization is the National Education Association (NEA). The NEA represents many of the nation's public school teachers and is consistently a leader at the forefront of issues, both political and non-political in nature. Many times their support or lack thereof will make the difference in whether laws are implemented or not.

In one recent case "the panel's Democratic chairman chastised union leaders for backing away from support for an earlier bill that had also included pay-for-performance language" (Klein, Hoff, 2007, p. 20). This is a prime example of how unions are not necessarily always on the employee's side of a particular issue. This can lead to labor relations that are not necessarily the best in nature.

Labor relations are a natural outgrowth of labor unions and can be described as the relationships (good or bad) between the unions and management or between unions and their employees, or even between the unions and other organizations, though primarily they refer to the relations between the unions and management. When there are good labor relations, the company management is able to sit down with union management and rationally discuss the issues concerning workers.

If there are bad labor relations then the workers have the option of striking the company, or not showing up for work and keeping other employees from showing up as well. This is a labor tactic that can virtually halt production of whatever product the company produces and at times has forced the company to give in to whatever demands the union is making.

The implementation of such tactics can cause labor relations to become less than amiable and can lead to dissension amongst the ranks of the employees as well. Another area in which a lot of influence is wielded by unions is in the creation and implementation of policy. "The policy terrain is vast and can involve resource distribution (who gets what), and identity (us vs. them), and policies are hotly contested" (Taras, 2007, p. 567).

Although unions do not have the same influence as they previously were able to command, their relevance is still viable and is evidenced by the fact that union management is often consulted when it comes time to form policy. However, they are not as relevant as they used to be primarily due to the fact that they no longer represent the majority of U.S. workers that they formerly represented. In 1970 "400,000 workers stayed off the job for 10 weeks" (Golway, 2007, p. 8) in a United Autoworkers strike against General Motors (G.M.).

Golway compares that number and the length of the strike against G.M. with a one-day strike that recently occurred against the same automaker. This time there were only 73,000 workers left to walk the picket lines. It was a reminder of how the great American job has disappeared" (Golway, 2007, p. 8). With the disappearance of those jobs the relevance of the unions has changed somewhat.

Now the unions are more likely to concentrate on matters such as arbitration, grievance handling and using their political muscle to elect or re-elect candidates who are likely to address union issues in favor of the unions. Political influence is not the only area where unions are still relevant, unions are still leaders in contract negotiations, although the atmosphere in which those negotiations are conducted may be much more contentious than in previous decades.

An example could be; "When we look at collective bargaining in the airline industry, it seems only logical to ask whether its highly confrontational character is a symptom of the final throes of nearly three decades of industry restructuring or the foreshadowing of a deepening crisis in union-management relations.