COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Collective Bargaining

Collective Bargaining

Introduction

Unions in the 19th century developed federations as a way of advancing the interests of workers. The central labor federation today, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), tends to focus its efforts on political activities such as getting legislation passed that benefit workers. The debate within the labor movement has rekindled a larger debate over the role of organized labor in the U.S.

In a healthy organization, employers and employees care about the quality of their work, health and safety, as well as fair treatment to all employees. Employees are hired based on their abilities. Employees and employers contribute to the preservation of health and safety (Bacon, 2010); employees have the rights by which the consequences of obligations to rights for the person in the workplace can be addressed. Based on the fact that workers and employers may have different perspectives, union organizations work effectively to solve problems related to health, safety and fair treatment at work (Pencavel, 2009).

Main objective of this paper is to consider the issue of optimizing employee relations in terms of prospects for the rights and obligations of employees, as well as to characterize the specific role played by trade unions in helping people and integration of their roles in the workplace.

Comparison and Contrast of Union Organization

Three major union organizations of united States that have been selected in this paper include American Postal Worker Union (APWU), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). American Postal Worker Union (APWU) is a public sector union representing workers employed in positions of American Post. It protects the rights and management system of employees of the United States Postal Service who are working as service workers, maintenance workers, and clerks (Slater, 2004). It represents approximate 220,000 current employees and retired personnel of American Post along with approximate 2,000 private-sector mail worker. Based on the current economic factors of the country, U.S. government is seeking to shut down the operational local branches of post offices across the country (Bacon, 2010). Currently, the union is seeking for collective bargain for improvements in working hours, wages, working conditions, and job safety of US postal employees (Fichtenbaum, 2011). APWU aims at returning bargaining unit work to the members of the union, mainly postal services employees.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) serves the rights and interest protection of employees associated with the transportation services. It performs fundamental role in enhancing the mobility of workers associated with the industry. It is highly active in for protecting U.S. and Canadian citizen members. ATU involves the public transit, school bus, para-transit system; its member include rail operators, bus drivers, station attendants, mechanics, support personnel associated with the transportation system in order to make it efficient, safe, and affordable to the public (Pencavel, 2009). It has encountered many civil rights issues related to the workers associated with the transportation industry. Conditions are troubled for many U.S. workers today; they argue that making a strong labor movement is ...