Organisational structures - EduqasThe role of trade unions in representing workers

A trade union is a type of organisation whose main purpose is to represent the interests of employees across many businesses who join the union by paying a membership fee. Often a trade union focuses on employees in a particular industry with common interests, such as journalists or health workers. Trade unions are mainly concerned with employee issues such as payment, disputes with business managers, working conditions and industrial action. They also promote learning in workplaces.

Trade unions aim to ensure that employees are treated fairly by businesses and they can represent employees in disputes when this is not the case. They benefit from the use of collective bargaining, where negotiation takes place on behalf of a group of people, rather than an individual.

Payment

Trade unions aim to ensure that payment is fair for its members, and that members receive pay rises in line with inflation and other similar businesses. Often, trade union members are paid more than non-union members in similar roles, due to the collective bargaining process that allows the union to dispute pay on behalf of a large number of people rather than one employee.

Working conditions

Trade unions can support employees in relation to working conditions, such as holiday payment and allowance, working hours, working practices and rules, health and safety issues, sickness, and the working environment. For example:

• Holiday payment and allowance must be within the legal guidelines but trade unions may try to get additional allowances for their members.
• Working hours must be within the legal guidelines, and contracts must be fair to individuals. For instance an employer cannot change an employee’s full time contract to a zero hour contract without their consent.
• Health and safety must be adhered to at all times - trade unions make sure that businesses have appropriate measures and policies in place to deal with any health and safety issues.
• A trade union also deals with sickness issues. They ensure that employees are treated fairly and have the right to take paid time off work when sick.
• Trade unions also ensure business have suitable facilities, such as a kitchen, restroom and specified break-time spaces.

Industrial action

Industrial action is often a last resort for a trade union, used when an employer does not cooperate with the requests made by a trade union or group of employees, and negotiations fail to resolve the issue. Industrial action can include go-slows and strikes. Often, the threat of industrial action is enough to persuade employers to negotiate and make changes. If no changes are made because of industrial action, it is often repeated until negotiations and changes take place.

• A go-slow occurs when employees purposely work at a slower pace, being less productive and completing a lower amount of work. This can cause huge issues for a business, meaning they offer a lower level of service or slower production.
• Strike action occurs when a workforce refuse to work, which often forces services or production to stop completely if no alternative workforce is found. For example, if train drivers strike, it is likely that most train services would stop operating. In order to hold a strike, a trade union must complete a ballot and the majority of trade union members must agree to a strike. When employees are on strike, they can either stay away from the workplace, or can protest outside their place of work on a picket line.