Workers Rights or Union Rights Course This

¶ … Workers Rights or Union Rights Course This a feasibility research report. Written Wayne State University a "Workers Rights/Union Rights added general education courses. I enclose a sample report guidelines formatting details personal notes subject. Importance of having a Workers rights or union rights course Please find attached the feasibility report for the introduction of a course on worker's rights or union rights which analyzes the importance of worker's unions and how they have been able to improve the work lives and compensation of workers.

Based on the research conducted, it is recommended that Wayne State University should introduce this course for the reasons provided which bases the arguments on management projects and future needs of the country's workforce. Importance of worker's unions For many years, unions have made a substantial impact on the work lives and compensation of workers who are both unionized and non-unionized. Current data indicates that unions have greatly helped to improve the wages, inequality of pay, fringe benefits, workplace protections and total compensation of employees.

Some conclusions can be drawn from the data. The first and possibly the most important conclusion is that unions have raised the wages of workers and raised their overall total compensation by about 20 per cent and 28% respectively. This shows that unions have improved the lives of workers greatly since with higher compensation, they are bound to have better job security and this could also have a positive influence on the motivation and job satisfaction of employees.

Barkume (2002) argues that worker's unions also reduce the inequality of wages by fighting for increases in the wages of low and middle-wage workers rather than for the higher-wage workers. They also improve the wages for blue-collar employees than the white-collar employees who are the most oppressed at most times. They also improve the wages more for workers who do not have college degrees. According to Card (2001) , the major reason for this is that unions have the improvement of wages for employees as their main goal aside from collective bargaining.

Economists have studied the impact of unions on wages of employees as well as the consequences for unionized workers and they all found that unions greatly improve the wages of unionized employees. Unions also improve the wages for non-union employees.

An example is given by Blank and Card (1991) who argue that a high school graduate who is not a member of the union but whose industry is unionized by at least 25% of the workers ends up getting paid roughly 5% more than the other workers who are in industries that are less unionized. In addition to this, Belman (1992) argues that unions have also had a huge impact on the total wages of non-union employees in as much as they have had an effect on the pay for total unionized industries.

This goes to show that unions have effect on both unionized and non-unionized workers. The most important impact of worker's unions has been on the fringe benefits received by the unionized employees. Farber (2003) states that unionized workers are more likely to receive fringe benefits such as employer-provided health insurance and pension plans as well as paid leaves. Card (2001) adds that these numbers range from 18% to 28% for employer-provided health insurance and 23 to 54% for employer-provided pension plans. In general, unionized workers receive better health and pension benefits than workers who are non-unionized.

Unionized employees also pay about 18% less than the nonunionized employees for health care deductibles which form a great share of the costs for the coverage of their whole family. While in retirement, unionized employees also have a 24% greater chance of having their health insurance covered by their employer.

Unions have also played a huge role in the enactment of a wide range of labor laws and regulations that cover diverse areas such as minimum wage, overtime pay, treatment of immigrant workers, civil rights, coverage of health and retirement, leave in order to provide care for newborns as well as sick members of the family and insurance and compensation of worker during periods of unemployment.

Belman (1992) argues that unions have a common desire to provide protections to employees by regulating the behavior of their employers as well as giving them access to some benefits during their time of need. Hirsch and Macpherson (2003) add that over the years, the rules which unions have provided for employers have become norms in the American workplace and they have also become cherished public values.

Apart from instituting these rules and regulations, unions also ensure that labor protections that are instituted are followed by the employers and are not just mere promises. Thus unions help to monitor the workplaces of unionized employees and ensure the implementation of labor protections is effective in every workplace and that no relevant facts or information are misrepresented to the employees. The effectiveness of unions in this can be seen in the significant increase in the number of claims and reports of abuse that are placed by employees.

From these advantages, it can be seen that unions play a pivotal role in the workplace by securing the labor protections and rights for employees such as safety and health, overtime, family and medical leave as well as other benefits. As a result of unionized workers being more informed about their rights, they are less likely to be oppressed by their employer and more likely to receive other benefits such as social insurance, unemployment insurance and worker's compensation.

Unions have thus become an integral intermediary institution between the employer and employees and provide a much needed complement to the legislated benefits and protections of unionized workers. Feasibility of the worker's right or union rights course From the evidence provided on the significance of worker's unions on both unionized and nonunionized employees, it can be anticipated that many present and future employees would be willing to learn more about these workers unions and thus help to contribute to the specific unions which regulate the labor practices and policies.

These present and future employees will form the students for the course since they will provide the demand for the course in addition to the increased interest in worker's rights and unions. The worker's rights or union rights course will also help to educate students on how they are expected to behave in the workplace as well as the anticipated behavior of other employees and their employer which will help to make a substantial and measurable difference toward the implementation of the labor laws.

Students will thus be able to see the full picture of the role of unions in the lives of workers and appreciate their influence and this will also create interest and potential for future leaders of worker's unions who will fight for the rights of employees. The course will also help to increase the strength of.