Unionization
Introduction
Unionization involves the process of forming labour unions. Labour unions are intermediaries between employees and their employers. The primary purpose of labour unions is to provide employees with the power to negotiate for better working conditions, among other benefits through collective bargaining. In an attempt to understand the density and the significance of trade unions, it is essential to note that unions’ status varies among different countries. Research has shown that trade unions, when balanced, can help reduce economic disparities. However, unions are complex, multifaceted organizations struggling between financial markets and political ideologies.
Argument
Unionization
Trade unions are independent and evolving organizations. Some of them are established among employees sharing common skills, while others are developed to organize all workers from a particular industry into one body. Unions in the public sector have a different type of organization and bargaining power compared to those in the private arena. There is also a variation in internal governance (Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, 2018, p.65). Some are mini-democracies, while some have authoritarian hierarchies. Moreover, some labor unions have a decentralized organization, while others work under a removed level. Even in the same country and industry, the scope of unions can differ. While some have long traditional social movement styles of activism, others have the economic interest categories. In some countries, trade unions have close ties to different political parties, while in other countries; the union-party connection is contingent.
It is challenging to describe unions in terms of a single objective because they are required to balance the competing demands with other trade unions. Just like other organizations, unions may also suffer from agency challenges between the leaders and the members. Scholars have argued continuously that unions can be compared broadly across different industries, countries, and periods. Unions in the public arena are considered to be more controversial. In the sector, there is hardly any profit to divide between the capital owners and employees. Besides, there are no direct competitive forces that can restrain costs (Bryson, Ebbinghaus & Visser, 2011, p.239). It is often argued that some public-sector union members, in some ways, mobilize their members during elections and effectively select those that they will later need to bargain. Public officials are, therefore, less likely to resist demands raised by the union hence making the public sector unions more attractive as private sectors become a significant challenge to manage. Public-sector unions make up the most labour movements across many countries around the globe, especially the United States.
The distinction between public and private union sectors is murkier for the unions outside the prosperous democracies. In the authoritarian settings, for instance, the idea of independent unionism breaks down. In most Latin American countries, unions are considered as part of the corporatist structure that underpins the essential substitution development strategies. In the countries’ history, it was compulsory to belong to unions, and the government was responsible for the appointment of union leaders. Developing Asia, for instance, had an exclusive structure of state-sanctioned unionism (Bryson, Ebbinghaus, & Visser, 2011, p.219). In the communist world, the unions were sponsored by the states and were led by communist party members. Moreover, union membership was at high numbers. Although some of the legacy unions have managed to prove their remarkable durability, unions, formerly controlled by the government, have shown to succeed in developing independent identities.
High bargaining coverage in unions leads to an increase in wages. However, it not only depends on political links of the particular union but also the union’s density. The more members a union acquires, the more its bargaining power. Trade unions are responsible for the unity in an organization. While it might seem challenging to judge unions clearly, it is essential to note that the effects of trade unions are related to their bargaining power. Also, the union’s bargaining power depends on the union’s density.
Structure of the economy
Industrialization
The high numbers of workers in mines and factories during the industrial revolution led to the development of labor unions in the industrial revolution period. After a decade of political hostility towards individuals looking for organized labor, skilled male employees emerged as the earliest individuals to benefit from the trade unions. During the industrial revolution, the rapid expansion of industries drew men, women, rural workers, and immigrants into working in the industries in huge numbers (Bryson, Ebbinghaus & Visser, 2011, p.281). The pool of unskilled workers organized the early phases of industrialization and became an essential area in the establishment of trade unions. At the beginning of the industrial revolution, collective bargaining among employees and first labour unions began to grow. At the period of Napoleonic wars, the government started strategies on how to clamp down any danger of widespread unrest. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed that banned all the existing trade unions and collective bargaining among British workers. Although the unions faced severe suppression until around 1824, they had already spread in most cities and workplaces.
In the 1810s, the first labor unions that brought together divergent occupations were established. This included the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester. The laws regarding the banning of trade unions were revised ad appealed in 1824. The first attempts to establish national general unions were observed in the 1820s and 1830s (Vachon, Wallace, & Hyde, 2016, p.172). In 1830, John Doherty established the National Association for the protection of labour. The association quickly gathered the membership of various unions, which mostly consisted of textile workers but also included blacksmiths, mechanics among others. Later on, in the 1830s and 1840s, unionism was overshadowed by political activities. In the 1850s, more permanent labour unions began to form. It is important to note that until the late 20th century, women have been excluded from membership and the formation of labour unions.
Ghent system
The Ghent System refers to a system where welfare payments’ primary responsibilities, such as unemployment benefits, are associated with labour unions rather than government agencies. The system was named is the Ghent city in Belgium, where it was first implemented. The system is the predominated benefit Plan for unemployment. Belgium has established a hybrid Ghent system that plays a considerable role in distributing the benefits. In countries such as Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, the trade unions’ unemployment funds are regulated and partly subsidized by the national government of the concerned nation. Since employees in most cases need to belong to a labor union so as to receive the benefits, union membership is at a highway rate in countries using the Ghent system. In Sweden, for instance, since 2007, the Swedish State began reducing its financial aid to the unemployment funds. Therefore, the membership fee to belong to a labor union needed to be raised considerably, and the union density reduced from77% in 2006 to 71% in the year 2008. In 2014, January, the funds were restored to the same level as before 2007. In 2013, the country’s union density was 69% while the density union employment rose to 73%.
Literature review
Labour unions across the globe are suffering. For instance, in the United States, the rise in the global economy and a reduction in industrial jobs have contributed to the pressure on high salaries that union members have been enjoying. Labour unions began losing their ground a long time ago. Abut fifty years ago; most workers in the United States belonged to Labor unions. Today, however, only 13% of working individuals belong to labour unions (Vachon, Wallace, & Hyde, 2016, p. 210). The declining unionization across the world is eroding employees’ bargaining power. There are several causes of unionization decline.
Globalization refers to the process through which organizations begin operating on an international scale. Driven by advancements in technology, political measures, and lower transport costs, globalization is a strategy to decrease man-made barriers in trade and lead to a closer integration among different world economies (Bryson, Ebbinghaus, & Visser, 2011, p.182). However, the changes experienced in the global market have sparked a debate on the possible outcomes of the worldwide market. Among the debates include the discussion of international trade liberalization as well as labor expansion. The increase in imports from newly industrialized low wage nations and similarity of exchange goods among significant economies has led to a rise in competition in the product market. Moreover, it has encouraged the outsourcing of cheap labor and activities from more affordable places as companies attempt to maintain their competitive advantage.
Two theories exist in the response of unions to the open economy. To begin with, the rent-sharing, also known as product-market models, maintains that the increased foreign competition will decrease union bargaining strength as there will be high competition in the industry hence reducing the level of profits shared between the unions and the firms. Second, the unions might strategically behave in response to foreign competition and make tradeoffs between employment and wages. In such a situation, the union might either increase or reduce their influence over wages depending on the industry’s characteristics.
The era of neoliberalism has led to tremendous challenges for employees worldwide, including those in democratic countries. Unionized and unionized workers are faced with the competition within the global markets that extends beyond the comparative advantage of including differences in wages and working environment (Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, 2018, p.153). It has become a significant concern for most employees across the globe to worry about the potential erosion of their strength as well as the political and economic power standing in their way. Union density has been on a constant decrease ever since the 1980s in most democratic countries. The decrease of the union density alongside the increasing centralization and concentration of capital in the globe has threatened the uneasy power balance that has been in existence between labor and money throughout the period after the Second World War. In the past couple of decades, there has been a decline in union level even in stable regions such as Sweden and Germany. The declines are in correspondence to the growing trend towards decentralizing wage bargaining and the ongoing globalization of economies. Moreover, most democratic affluent have been experiencing regional integration both in the economic and political arena.
The effects of globalization on unionization are still a subject for debate. Scholars argue that globalization is most likely to push national economies into a ‘race to the bottom’ and will negatively affect all individuals in the working class across the globe. On the other hand, other scholars argue that most developed democracies will improve and build on their strengths; hence they will have a more divergent response to globalization (Vachon, Wallace, & Hyde, 2016, p. 284). Another group believes in the form of international embeddedness, especially one of the European context, which will either moderate or exacerbate the impact of globalization. The ongoing European integration project can be perceived as a particular element of regionalization. Since the world’s economy is almost fully developed as a regional economy, the EU offers a platform where individuals can examine how the specific regional integration affects unionization, something that has not been analyzed. It is important to note that while the European integration may act as a buffer to labor unions from the competitions of low-wage employees in the developing world, it might also be a neoliberal project that exacerbates the negative impacts of globalization on unionization.
The era of neoliberalism was ushered in through the elections of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It has become the dominant economic ideology in the last three and a half decades (Gall, Wilkinson & Hurd, 2011, p.165). We must understand that neoliberalism is not a monolithic process but rather, is a process that plays out in different manners under different national concepts. It is also widely articulated and embraced by national political elites and is considered the most contingent method on various domestic pressures and shocks from external forces. Neoliberalism is also the master frame of developing economic policies in advanced capitalist nations and economies.
In a study conducted to evaluate the impact of globalization on unionization, a few findings were observed. Globalization showed mixed has implications on union density. With affluent democratic nations, imports from developing and those from advanced countries were realized to be detrimental to unions in the states. On the other hand, capital mobility showed a positive relationship with unionization. Similarly, financialisation also showed a negative impact on unionization by supporting the argument that the increase in the shareholder society has put the interest of the capital above those of the workers. On the other hand, immigration showed a mixed and inconsistent pattern in its effect on unionization, hence undermining the study (Vachon, Wallace, & Hyde, 2016, p. n.p). The study also observed a negative impact of EU membership on union density, supporting the idea that some European integration has acted as a neoliberal project towards advancing the capitalists’ interests.
To begin with, labour unions have become irrelevant. Most workers around the globe feel that they are making enough to cater for their needs. When employees develop such feelings, they do not see the importance of joining unions to secure an increase in their wages and benefits. Moreover, during the bad economic times, the unions cannot protect their members from salary and benefit reductions, layoffs, or extreme working conditions (Kersy, 2009, p. n.p). Most workers no longer perceive unions as the solution to their problems, but rather consider them part of their problem. Unions are making things worse. Most companies are crashing due to the high cost of union labor.
Secondly, unions have a poor image in the public eye as being corrupt and inefficient. There have been numerous cases where unions have been associated with bribery and embezzlement of funds. Moreover, most workers are now preferring turning to the government for protection rather than sticking with the unions. Employees depend on healthcare protection, pensions, and other benefits offered by the government (Bryson, Ebbinghaus, & Visser, 2011, p. 99). Unless the unions find a way to reverse their decline, they will run into the danger of their membership and risk the danger of shrinking into irrelevance.
Analysis
Changes in Unionization
A union is perceived as successful if it manages to provide collective protection of employment and wage bargaining. As discussed earlier, when the union’s density increases, the power of the union increases, and the bargaining power develops (Lewkowicz & Lewczuk, 2018, p. 3). In Michigan, United States, the unionization is changing undeniably. Due to the restructuring of the Chrysler and General Motors, the State’s private-sector union is losing its members. Today, a large part of union membership is made by government employees, a growing trend in the United States and globally.
Statistics show that in 1983, about 326,000 government workers were covered by collective bargaining agreements. However, in the same duration, 758,000 employees from the private sector were covered by similar contracts. By 2008, the public sector union had lost about 13,000 employees, reducing the number of government employees covered by union contracts in Michigan to 313,000. At the same time, the private sector showed a drastic reduction in losing 270,000 workers hence leaving 489,000 workers. With the restructuring of the automobile industry, government workers covered by unions are likely to loom in a more significant number in Michigan compared to private workers (Kersy, 2009, p. 231). In the United States, most of the gains gathered from union membership have been collected from the service sector. There is a decline in the number of unionized workers in the manufacturing industry. The data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics since 2007, indicates that there is a rise in the number of union members in the United States. Labour unions in America are in a massive crisis, with most activists arguing that the approach used in the country is dead and cannot be revived.
Most of the European countries are a more significant level ahead of the United States in terms of trade union coverage. By 2013, more than two-thirds of employees in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland belonged to different trade unions. In Australia and France, a minority of the employees is in labor unions, but collective bargaining contracts cover 98 %. Most activists believe that the 20th century model on trade unions is dead and will not come back, hence the need to develop new ideas on how to build labor movements.
The left political spectrum aims at obtaining social justice through the redistribution of social and economic policies. On the other hand, the right range aims at defending private property and capitalism. There are fundamental differences between the right-wing and the left-wing ideologies. The leftist beliefs are liberal in that they believe in a society that is well served through an expanded role in the government (Kersy, 2009, p.152). Examples of extended government positions include; programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and social security, free public education, food stamps, and unemployment benefits, among others. Individuals on the right-wing believe that best outcomes in a given society are achieved when the government’s power is minimized, and the individual rights and civil liberties are paramount. The right-wing ideology would opt for the favour of market-based solutions for different issues that the government can tackle. They would, for instance, advocate for healthcare driven by consumer choice so as to cut down costs and retirement plans rather than social security offered by the government.
The left-wing and right-wing ideologies originated in the 18th century during the French Revolution. The doctrines are based on arrangements by the French National Assembly. Individuals who sat on the left supports revolution and a secular republic opposing the monarchy of the old Regime (Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, 2018, p.98). They were in favour of radical change, republicanism, and socialism. On the other hand, individuals who sat on the right side supported the old monarchist regime. A variety of social issues divide the United States into the left and right-wing. Such includes case on gun rights, abortion, women’s rights, drug policies, healthcare policies, and gay rights, among other issues. In general, individuals on the left-wing believe that the government needs to support individuals who cannot support themselves. Those on the right hand believe that supporting individuals in need is not the best way to optimize the use of government resources, and charitable institutions and the private sector can do the same.
Although some scholars have argued that authoritarianism is a characteristic only for the individuals on the left, thee exist persuasive reasons to doubt the claim. Scholars believe that if a similar study to that conducted in the United States were performed on European countries, it would reveal more significant similarities between the two ideologies than those realized in the United States (Vachon, Wallace & Hyde, 2016, p.142). Unlike the United States that has managed to enjoy a stable liberal democratic tradition that was softened and weakened the intensity of the country’ radical movements, several European countries have not engaged in liberal democratic principles. Still, they have instead established vigorous less diluted traditions in their progressive politics. Such countries have had to contend with extreme movements actively and engage in political struggles in the nations. For instance, in Europe, radical changes have been more enthusiastic and intense compared to the fundamental shifts in the United States. It is also important to note that although the two ideologies have different programmatic beliefs, they are deeply developed from various features of American society and are highly critical to what they perceive as spiritual and moral degenerations of American institutions.
Conclusion
Labour regulation in the globe requires an evaluation mechanism conducted by labour inspectors and trade unions. Also, legal and political origins might serve as the reasons for a given labour market practice. The size of the labour force can explain the difference in union density. More importantly, a trade union may gain through collective bargaining, depending on the proportion of the substitutable workers they have organized. Moreover, unions in more developed and huge markets are likely to accept low levels of unionization. On the other hand, unions in small labour markets are expected to gain high unionization levels more cheaply. Also, State and socio-economic factors could have an impact on the attitude of the public towards unions.
Reference List
Bryson, A., Ebbinghaus, B., & Visser, J. (2011). Introduction: Causes, consequences and cures of union decline. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 17, 97-105.
Gall, G., Wilkinson, A., & Hurd, R. (2011). The international handbook of labour unions: Responses to neo-liberalism.
Kersy, P. (2009). The Consequences of Government Union Ideology. Retrieved May 21, 2020, from https://www.mackinac.org/11500
Lewkowicz, J., & Lewczuk, A. (2018). An Institutional Approach to Trade Union Density. The Case of Legal Origins and Political Ideology. Central European Economic Journal, 14.
McClosky, H., & Chong, D. (2015). Similarities and differences between left-wing and right-wing radicals. British Journal of Political Science, 15, 329-363. Northampton, Mass. : Edward Elgar
Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, F. (2018). Class, politics, and the decline of deference in England, 1968-2000. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press
Vachon, T. E., Wallace, M., & Hyde, A. (2016). Union decline in a neoliberal age: Globalization, financialization, European integration, and union density in 18 affluent democracies. Socius.