Beginning or End of Unions



Introduction

The main purpose of this paper is to make an analysis on the role of labor unions and discuss the changes needed for the labor unions in order to maintain the support from their membership, communities and the employers. The paper also discusses the influence of politics on the decline of membership, and the influence of generations on labor unions. The paper discusses the past and future of the labor unions in order to become active and viable organization in 21st century (Aronowitz, 2005). Unions are, in fact, workers unions, which together represent their social and economic interests, with employers and political system. Their fundamental principle is participation in decisions: Workers should have the right, within their own business or on policy, to participate in decisions when it comes to dealing with issues strictly related to their rights. The union building is free and licensed by the state without restriction. This is one of fundamental principles of the International Labor Organization (ILO), an organization within the United Nations which deals with standards applicable labor laws (see also Chapter 8.3). In several countries, this freedom coalition is guaranteed by the Constitution which provides employees and employers the opportunity to organize, to represent all their interests to preserve and promote their conditions economic and working conditions. The freedom of association includes the right to form a union. The European Convention on Human Rights also explicitly the right to create unions (Hart Research, 2005). The union membership must be made freely and voluntarily. In States that until 1990 were organized according to the socialist system, membership a union was often required.

1. Beginning or End

a) Evolution and Development

Union density has continued to decline in the United States, particularly in the private sector. The industries in which unions had a major presence have declined over the years due in part to globalization and technological advances, yielding large membership losses. Further, unions have failed to attract new members in emerging fields, compounding the problem. As a result, unions may have more difficulty organizing due to limited resources that have resulted from declining membership. If unions do not begin to organize workers in emerging fields and non-traditional workers to increase membership, unions may have difficulty surviving. In recent decades, a changing economy and business and government efforts have reduced unionization. During the years between 1953 and 1997, union membership rates "declined by 62 percent within manufacturing, by 79 percent within the mining, by 78 percent within the construction, by 60 percent within transportation, and by 40 percent in the service sector". Declining unionization is not simply a response to changes to America's postindustrial economy, however. This shift from blue-collar manufacturing jobs to white-collar service jobs does not account for the entire union decline. Rather, negative mainstream media portrayals, unfavorable public policy changes such as the Reagan administration's hard-line anti-strike policy during the Professional Air Traffic Controller Organization (PATCO) strike of 1982, along with strong employer resistance, have all taken their toll on labor ...