Introduction
To begin with, a union is a group of employees formed in a workplace to improve wages, benefits, and conditions. And it selects representatives to negotiate with their employers. (Boyle, 2019) Its history is very old, but the objectives have remained the same for more than 100 years. In terms of unions, there are many pros and cons to having a labor union within an organization. In this article, some of the pros and cons are discussed.
Pros
- Higher wages
One of the greatest benefits of having a union in an organization is having higher wages. The representatives of the labor union negotiate with their own organizations to increase employees’ wages through favorable aspects of their sales. The increased pay will keep a higher motivation for work. Thus, the organization often adjust and accept these negotiations while maintaining the balance between running cost and wages salaries. As a data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that members of labor union had median wages of $1.169, while nonmembers of the union had median wages of $975 weekly (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Moreover, most members of a union have access to pensions after they retire, while only five third of non-union employees have it.
- Greater equality
Maintaining adequate equality is essential to reduce the turnover of employees. Especially, gender inequality has prevented economic growth for more than decades. From a survey by the Pew Research Center in 2020, women earnings are lower than men by 16 percent in the U.S. (Barroso and Brown, 2021). Not to leave skilled and talented women behind because of their gender and improve workplace in favor of men, labor unions are dealing with these issues within their own organizations. And the terms of negotiations are as such.
- Correct wage inequalities
- Preventing harassments
- Hiring diversity
- Better opportunities for all employees
These are only a few representative examples, but those actions are limited as some countries still have severe situations today.
- Health security
Labor union members have a variety of medical benefits; therefore, union members tend to be safer, medical benefits such as having training curriculum for educating employees to avoid accident. Also, they address safety issues related to mental health and suggest to their management.
- Political organization
All employees have the power to change politics by voting. Labor unions are made in order to create or protect employee’s quality of life, so candidates who suggested a pledge in favor of labor union would gain adherents and receive donations for elections. Moreover, union members have higher rate of willingness to participate political campaign.
Cons
- Discouraging of individuals
Labor unions exist as a group within an organization. Thus, they create ideals in the group which may be a result of discouraging individuals, and sometimes they have no options but to support the group even though they disagree with them. However, respecting individuals too much may cause lower productivity, so that many of unions adopted a majority vote system.
- Employees side against the company
Labor unions are acting to ensure the employees’ quality and condition of work and enhance their power of voice to managers. Sometimes union creates suggestions to which their managers might not wish like, which can then cause a conflict of interest amongst each other. As a result of this, employees may feel awkward while working due to what their higher management asked of them.
- Increased labor cost
Labor unions usually claim to increase employees’ wages. As explained above, it sounds like a good thing for everyone at first, but it would impact the price of their products or services. Not only that happened, but it could also lead to less clients, business partners, and even consumers and worsen the whole business condition if their products or services were too expensive.
- Seniority issues
Labor unions tend to have seniority and mock the experiences and skills of employees because of its hierarchical structure (BHATT, 2020). So, most opportunities would allocate to the employee who works longer at the org rather than others. It might obstruct an employee’s growth of experience or skills. Worst case, they will quit to seek better opportunities.
Conclusion
Despite having a union in an organization, there are a lot of pros and cons. It was originally established in order to create better work conditions for employees, and their work is wide-ranging. However, it sometimes creates a poor environment for some employees, so understanding both pros and cons would be beneficial for any worker.
References
Barroso, A. and Brown, A. (2021). Gender pay gap in U.S. held steady in 2020. [online] Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/25/gender-pay-gap-facts/ [Accessed 30 November 2022].
BHATT, K. (2020). 12 Pros and Cons of Unions. [online] honestproscons.com. Available at: https://honestproscons.com/pros-and-cons-of-unions/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20major%20benefits%20of%20unions%20is [Accessed 30 November 2022].
Boyle, M. (2019). Labor Union. [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/labor-union.asp [Accessed 30 November 2022].
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022). Union Members Summary. [online] Bls.gov. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm [Accessed 30 November 2022].
