An Assessment of the Need for Worker Representation in the 21st Essay

An Assessment of the Need for Worker delegacy in the 21st Century - Essay Exampleship Aggregate union density No union members Union density of 50% or more Recognised unions (% employees) (% workplaces) (% workplaces) (% workplaces) All workplaces 34 64 48 30 sphere of receiveership Private 22 77 8 16 humans 64 7 62 90 Management attitudes towards union membership In favour 60 8 58 84 Neutral 22 76 9 17 Not in favour 5 93 1 4 Table 2 Union Presence, by Sector of Ownership and Management Attitudes (Source Marchington and Wilkinson 2008 p.390) The importance of management attitudes is discussed later in this paper. Employee Relations The latest ideas to involve actors more in the workplace are employee engagement and employee involvement and participation (EIP). These follow changes from collective and multi-employer bargaining brought intimately by international competition and globalisation. Increasingly, although employees have various rights enshrined in law, employers are dic tating terms and, in some(a) cases, unilaterally attempting to change contracts of workout to the detriment of employees (Curtis 2010b). Heery (2009 p.334) discusses the representation gap, restating key themes of union revitalisation, non-union representation and the effectiveness of state-supported policy as needing further research. Szell (2010 p.184) describes the neo-liberal economic system as having declared war on the transaction unions and workers participation when considering the impact of the global financial crisis on the trade union movement and labour policies, specifically in the EU. This is even more important with the austerity drive being pursued by the up-to-the-minute UK coalition government as, following the announcements of substantial budget cuts for the public sector, unions have advised that they intend middleman to protect both their members jobs... An Assessment of the Need for Worker Representation in the 21st CenturyHutton believes that the employme nt relations culture in 2010 resembles that of the 1970s and this causes many another(prenominal) employees to take employers to employment tribunals to obtain justice. He highlights that close to a third of all people at work have experienced some pee of unfair treatment in the past year, the gender contribute gap and low pay as evidence that there is a need for a more effective collective worker voice in the workplace.Employment relations are as difficult an area as ever, with workers still requiring protection within the working context, whether through legislation or union representation. Employers seem dogged to exclude workers from decision making and regard them as simply resources, like fixtures and fittings, with no opinions, attitudes or voices of their own once they enter the workplace. Representation is still required, and will continue to be so until employers realise that employees total participation in organisational decision making improves the bottom line.One area that organisations might like to seek in this respect, is stakeholder theory. Although most organisations pay lip service to stakeholders other than shareholders, adopting such an approach would generate many positive benefits, including within the employee relations arena. The key issue to be addressed is the power differential surrounded by employer and employed. Until this is resolved, employees will still be treated poorly and still require representation, both as individuals and collectively.