Modern management theory and practice pay scant attention to the value or relevance of trade unions. It is believed by modern managers that the Human Resource Management department is sufficiently equipped to address employee concerns and grievances that no other form of representation is needed. But empirical evidence does not support this assertion. If anything, evidence points that top management tends to hold an upper-hand in its relation with lower-ranked employees, making a case for proper representation on behalf of the latter. History and labour tradition too matters. For example, in the United Kingdom, with a rich history of trade unions, employee voice continues to be relatively strong. But in the United States, where capitalist ideology is deeply entrenched in business and government circles, trade unions barely exist. Of course, a nation’s degree of participation in the neo-liberal program is also a factor. Indeed, the short forty year history of neo-liberalism has witnessed the worst cases of employee oppression. In this context, much of the rhetoric attached to modern HRM theories need be questioned. (Turner, T., & D’Art, 2008, p. 65) That HR departments can sufficiently empower employee voice and fill the void created by lack of representation is a far-fetched claim. The following passages will elaborate this thesis.
In the early years of the twenty first century Britain’s trade union tradition continues to be challenged by neo-liberalism. Started by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, Britain’s integration into the world economy has gradually dismantled national interests (including working class citizens’) in favour of foreign capital. The remedy for this situation lies in revitalizing trade unions as opposed to trusting the management to care for employee interests. In the thirty years following the Second World War, Britain set upon a process of nationalisation. But things changed under Thatcher, when plans for wider privatisation were designed “not only to enthrone the market, but to encourage an ownership mentality and ‘change the soul’ of an entire class of voters…Her brutal suppression of the miners’ strike in 1984 showed what now awaited those who resisted the new order.” (Frank, 2008, p.28) Since the United States is at the forefront of this new economic order, it is instructive to study parallel trends across the Atlantic. In their own pursuit of laissez-faire capitalism, America’s Conservatives “did not have as far to travel as their British cousins, and they have never needed to use their state power so ruthlessly. But the pattern is the same: scatter the left’s constituencies, hack open the liberal state and reward friendly businesses with the loot.” (Lloyd, 1996, p.30) Moreover, the prolonged reign of the New Labour since 1997 has done little to assuage working class distress.
Employee welfare might seem like belonging to the realm of corporate affairs. But the reality is that it is deeply politicized.
“The current uncertainties facing British trade unions come after three decades of extensive restructuring of work and employment relations. This restructuring was accompanied by extensive legislative reforms as successive Conservative governments sought to shift the balance of power towards employers. In these circumstances, and with the beginnings of a distancing between the Labour Party and trade unions, individual unions and the TUC began to look to their own forms of organisation and operation to reverse the falling membership levels, both within particular trade unions as well as across the unionised workforce.” (Fairbrother, 2000, p.47)
Interestingly, media coverage of trade union activities has declined in recent decades, giving two misleading impressions. First, it suggests that managements have upped their game and are taking better care of employees. Second, this phenomenon is taken as a proof for the theory that trade unions have become irrelevant in modern economies. Both of these are false. With the process of media concentration accelerating under the neo-liberal regime, media today is dominated by right-wing interests. A prime example of this is media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his company News Corporation, whose goal it is to gain monopoly control over British media in the near future. Covering worker strikes and trade union activism does not serve the interests of business elites like him, which is why coverage of these topics have declined. This makes a strong and compelling case for the revival of trade unions and proper representation both within corporate campuses and in media. (Walsh, 2001, p.130)
The choice of stories chosen by media editors, the angle of coverage, the bias in reporting all add up to give a distorted view of the state of worker welfare. For example, in British media, the headlines that usually dominate union conference season do not highlight the progress made by unions in attaining due recognition by their employers. Nor is the coverage centred on class action and employee neglect lawsuits, where unprecedented compensation amounts are being granted by the courts. Instead media highlights only the political aspects. This situation makes it imperative that a culture of fair and just worker representation evolves in corporate Britain. Workers need to ask hard questions of their managements, defending the security of their jobs and demanding safe work conditions. Workers should also unite to improve the attitude of the media toward worker representation. It is high time workplace issues “such as health and safety, working time, equal opportunities and minimum standards – issues championed by the unions for decades” are given due media space. (Walsh, 2001, p.130)
Given the flaws in the present arrangement and in recognition of management’s inability to adequately resolve employee concerns, workers can organize themselves so that their collective bargaining powers are increased. One way of doing this is to reconstruct bargaining models built into the British public sector prior to 1980. For example,
“Bargaining arrangements remained centralised until well into the 1980s, concerned with universal terms and conditions of employment in the different sections that made up the public sector. These arrangements were mostly based on Whitley-type procedures, a feature of the industrial relations procedures in the public sector from the 1950s onwards. The result was a relatively stable and centralised pattern of bargaining until the 1980s, with limited attempts, by management and unions, to open up more devolved patterns of bargaining arrangements.” (Fairbrother, 2000, p.47)
In conclusion, it is obvious that worker representation is inadequate in corporate board-rooms and in legislative chambers. That HR Managers can satisfactorily reconcile the needs, demands and aspirations of the workforce is also an overstatement. With British media being dominated by a handful of powerful business interests, news coverage is conspicuous by the absence of meaningful labour issues. As it is now fairly clear that the interests of the employees and their employers are always divergent (if not opposing) from one another, there is a strong case for the renewal of trade union formation in the 21st century. Finally, while from the point of view of the media, trade unions might have become obsolete and prosaic organisations “that are worth talking about only when they are in conflict with the government over policy. But the truth is unions are champions of the collective project or principle, that has to be recognised or listened to as champions of the individual.” (Satre, 2005, p.803)
References
Fairbrother, P. (2000). British Trade Unions Facing the Future. Capital & Class, (71), 47+.
Frank, T. (2008, August 18). The Plot against Liberal America: In Its Pursuit of a Free-Market Utopia, the US Right Tried to Crush Trade Unions, the Legal Profession and All the Pillars That Have Historically Supported the Left. It Will Not Stop There, Warns Thomas Frank. New Statesman, 137, 28+.
Good Practices in Labor-Management Cooperation in Unionized Establishments. (2008, January 6). Manila Bulletin, p. NA.
Lloyd, J. (1996, August 16). A New Generation, Fit for the Fight: A Campaign Based on Grass-Roots Activism and Young Blood Is Transforming the Profile and Fortunes of America’s Trade Unions. New Statesman, 125, 30+.
Satre, L. J. (2005). United We Stand: A History of Britain’s Trade Unions. The Historian, 67(4), 803+.
Trade Unions Welcomed with Open Arms by UK Bosses. (1998, November). Management Services, 42, 6.
Turner, T., & D’Art, D. (2008). Is There a Potential ‘representation Gap’ in the New Irish Economy? an Examination of Union Density Levels and Employee Attitudes to Trade Unions. Irish Journal of Management, 29(1), 65+.
Walsh, J. (2001, September 10). Trade Unions V the Media. New Statesman, 130,.