Trade union movement in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Trade union movement in Britain - Essay Example The power of trade unions in countries around the world is not equal. In certain countries, such as Britain, the role of trade unions in promoting the rights of employees has been critical. Current paper presents the current state of trade union movement in Britain. In addition, the strategies that trade union movement in Britain employs to increase its influence are explained and evaluated. Through the literature published in regard to this subject it has been revealed that the current power of trade unions in Britain is limited, compared to the past. Radical changes in these unions’ policies and practices are required so that the power of trade union movement in Britain to return to high levels. 2. Trade union movement in Britain 2.1 Definitions In order to understand the various aspects of trade union movement in Britain it is necessary to present the definitions of certain terms, as these terms are closely related to the issues under discussion. The trade union has been de scribed as ‘a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives’ (Sinha 2004, p.1). Through a similar point of view, a trade union reflects ‘a combination aiming to regulate the relations between workmen and masters†¦.’ (1913 Trade Union Act, in Jackson, 1982, p.69). Different approaches have been also used for describing trade unions. For instance, reference can be made to the definition of trade union as developed by Flanders in 1975: ‘unions should act in order to challenge capitalism’ (Gardner and Palmer 1997, p.86). The above definition, being influenced by Marx’s views on employment relations, focuses on the relationship between employment and politics and not so much on the rights of employees in the workplace. Reference should be also made to the definition of worker. According to the Employment Rights Act 1996 a worker is an individual that meets the fol lowing three requirements: ‘a) works under a contract, b) to carry out personal services and c) for the other party of the contract’ (Gennard and Judge 2005, p.102). In the context of another definition, an employee is considered to be ‘the person that works for another under the terms of compensation’ (Twomey 2009, p.78). The compensation of employees can be monetary or of other form (Twomey 2009). 2.2 Current state of trade union movement in Britain As in all countries where a trade union movement exists, in Britain also, the trade union movement focuses on ‘the protection of jobs and of wages’ (Padhi 2008, p.543). Moreover, trade unions have the power to check whether working conditions are kept at a specific level, in terms of quality and safety (Padhi 2008). The existence of trade unions is based on the following fact: the position of employees is less advantageous compared to that of their employers (Weiss 2008, p.357). This means that em ployees are not equally powerful with their employers when having to negotiate for their rights (Weiss 2008). This fact has led to the introduction of trade unions, as a means for increasing the power of employees towards their employers (Weiss 2008). The current status of trade union movement in UK can be characterized as rather discouraging. In fact, through the decades the failures of the efforts of union leaders to secure the support of Labour government towards the trade union movement, as analyzed below, have led to the decrease of the unions’