Essay/Term paper: Unions

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Marketing

WHY HAVE UNIONS WITNESSED A DECLINE

IN MEMBERSHIP IN RECENT YEARS?



ITRODUCTION



WHAT ARE UNIONS?



UNIONS ARE INFLUENTIAL AND BROADLY BASED

ORGANIZATIONS WHICH REPRESENT IT"S MEMBERS, WHO

ARE USUALLY EMPLOYEE"S. THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR

A LONG IN AUSTRALIA AND EXPERIENCED MIXED

RESPONSES FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC AS WELL AS

EMPLOYER"S.



OBJECTIVES OF A UNION: THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

OF A UNION IS TO PROVIDE OR IMPROVE THE WELL-BEING

OF IT"S MEMBER"S. IT WAS FORMED TO COUNER THE

SUPERIOR ECONOMIC POWER OF EMPLOYER"S. IT"S MOST

IMPORTANT FUNCTION IS TO MAXIMISE WAGES AND

SALARIES SUBJECT TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT

CONSTAINTS AND TO RAISE THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

UNDER WHICH WORK IS DONE.



WHY DO EMPLOYEE"S JOIN UNONS?



AN EMPLOYEE CAN BE MOTIVATED BY INSTUMENTAL

CONSIDERATIONS, IDEOLOGICAL BELIEFS OR SIMPLY

COMPULSION, BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE 3 MAJOR FACTORS

THAT LEAD EMPLOYEES TO BE UNIONIZED:



DISSATISFACTION WITH THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS

OF THE JOB

DESIRE TO INFLUENCETHOSE ASPECTS OF THE WORK

ENVIRONMENT THROUGH UNION ORIENTATED

MEANS

BELIEF THAT BENEFITS OF UNIONISM OUTWEIGH

EXPECTED COSTS



MOST COMMONLY, EMPLOYEE"S JOIN BECAUSE OF THEIR

COMMITTMENT TO THE VALUES OR PRINCIPLES OF

UNIONISM. (INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS- A CONTEMPORARY

ANALYSIS, DEERY S., PLOWMAN D., WALSH J. P 7.16)



WHY ARE UNIONS WITNESSING DECLINE?



THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE REASONS TO SUGGEST THE

DECLINE IN MEMBERSHIP BUT 3 FACTORS STAND OUT:



1.) CHANGING COMPOSITION OF

EMPLOYMENT



- PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR



MOST OF THE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH THAT

OCCURED IN THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY IN

THE 80"S AND 90"S WAS CONFINED TO THE

PRIVATE SECTOR WHOSE UNION DENSITY

RATE OF 25 % WAS CONSIDERABLY LOWER

THAN THAT OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR WHICH

WAS 56 %.



IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT PUBLIC

ENPLOYMENT FELL ALMOST 8 %.



- STUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE MIX OF

INDUSTRIES, SECTORS AND OCCUPATIONS.



A CONTINUING DECLINE IN THE

MANUFACTURING SECTOR TO OTHER

SECTORS IN THE INDUSTRY. THE

PROLIFERATION OF NON REGULAR FORMS OF

EMPLOYMENT, PARTICULARLY CASUAL JOBS

AND SELF-EMPLOYMENTAT THE EXPENSE OF

TRADITONAL FULL TIME JOBS.



BUT UNIONS ARE SEEMED TO BE BLAMED FOR

THE LOW LEVEL REPRESENTATION OF

CASUALS. UNIONS DO NOT RECRUIT CASUALS

AS ASSIDUOUSLY AS FULL TIMERS, BECAUSE

UF THE HIGH ORGANIZATIONAL COSTS

INVOLVED.















- SIZE OF THE FIRMS



70 % OF SMALL WORKPLACES WITH 5-19

EMPLOYEE"S HAD NO UNION MEMBER"S

COMPARED WITH ONLY 4 % OF LARGE

WORKPLACES WITH 500 OR MORE

EMPLOYEE"S. MOREOVER, 67 % OF ALL

WORKPLACES IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAD

NO UNION MEMBERS COMPARED WITH LESS

THAN 1 % IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.



- CHANGES IN THE GENDER COMPOSITION OF

THE WORKPLACE



FEMALE UNIONIZATION RATES HAVE BEEN

CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN MALES,

DESPITE THE INCREASING NUMBER OF

WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE OVER THE PAST

DECADE. THIS COULD BE BECAUSE OF:



1.) OCCUPATIONAL SEGMENTATION OF THE

LABOUR MARKET - WOMEN ARE ASSIGNED

TO LESS UNIONIZED OCCUPATIONS AND

INDUSTRIES (PART TIME WORK, LOWER

LABOUR FORCE ETC)



2.) SPECIFIC NEEDS OF WOMEN ARE NOT MET -

WOMEN FEEL THAT KEY ISSUES RELATING TO

THEM ARE NOT ADDRESSED WELL ENOUGH

AND THUS UNFAVOUR UNION MEMBESHIP.

WOMEN HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES AND

PREFERENCES AND ARE NOT TAKEN

SERIOUSLY IN THE WORKPLACE.



2.) CASUAL EFFECTS OF THE

BUSINESS CYCLE AND IN

PARTICULAR TO UNEMPLOYMENT



CHANGES IN THE OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE

AND COMPOSITION OF THE WORKPLACE, NOT

SO MANY LAYERS OF MANAGEMENT, BUT

MORE IMPORTANTLY TO UNEMPLOYMENT.



THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN THE RATE

OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE 80"S AND 90"S

WHICH HAD A NEGATIVE EFFECT.DURING

PERIODS OF ECONOMIC STAGNATION, UNIONS

HAVE TRADITIONALLY FOUND IT DIFFICULT

TO RETAIN UNEMPLOYED WORKERS AS

MEMBER"S.



3.) THE ACCORD



IN 1982 THE ACTU (AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF

TRADE UNIONS) AND THE LABOUR PARTY

WERE CONSTRUCTING AN ALTERNATIVE TO

NDEXATION AND THE AGREEMENT THEY

REACHED WAS AN IMPORTANT REASON FOR

LABOUR"S VICTORY IN 1983. THIS AGREEMENT

WAS KNOWN AS THE ACCORDAND IT WAS

FROM THIS TIME ON THAT A DECLINE IN

UNION MEMBERSHIP HAS BECOME

EVIDENT.THE ACCORD AGREEMENT PROVIDED

A FEATURE OF HELP TO DEVELOP AND

RESTUCTURE INDUSTRIES WHERE

UNEMPLOYMENT WAS THE HEAVIEST, BUT IN

RETURN, THE UNIONS HAD TO GIVE UP THIER

RIGHT TO INDUSTRIAL ACTION.



UNION RECRUITMENT DID NOT KEEP UP WITH

THE EXPANSION OF SERVICE INDUSTRIES,

AND DURING THE 80"S THE PROPORTION OF

UNIONISTS WAS FALLING. "IN THE MID 80"S,

THE UNIONS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO COMPLY

WITH POLICIES THAT REPRESENT THE

EXTRAPOLATION OF LABOURISM IN

DIRECTIONS UNDREAMT OF BY UNIONS WHO

FIRST GAVE THE TERM MEANING".

(AUSTRALIAN UNIONS: B.FORD & D.PLOWMAN)



AUSTRALIAN UNIONS HAVE FACED AND ARE

FACING WIDE RANGING CHANGES IN

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETS, AND

THIS FACTOR CONTRIBUTES TO THE DECLINE

IN MEMBERSHIP. THE FOLLOWING LABOUR

MARKET CHANGES INFLUENCE THE

STRUCTURE, POLICIES AND PROPERTIES OF

UNIONS:



A CONTINUING DECLINE IN THE PROPORTION OF

EMPLOYEE"S IN AGRICULTURE AND

MANUFACTURING SECTOR

AN INCREASE IN THE PROPORTION OF EMPLOYEE"S

IN INFOMATION AND SERVICE BASED

ORGANIZATIONS

A DECLINE IN ENTRY LEVEL EMPLOYMENT AND

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOW EDUCATED, LOW

SKILLED PEOPLE



A DECREASE IN TRADITIONAL PROMOTIONAL

OPPORTUNITIES AT ORGANIZATIONS IS

RESTRUCTURED T FLATTTEN HIERARCHICAL

STRUCTURES



AUSTRALIA IS UNDERGOING POPULATION AGING, WHERE

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AGED SIXTY AND OVER ARE

EXPECTED TO INCREASE FROM 2 MILLION IN 1981 TO 3

MILLION IN 2001 AND TO 5 MILLION IN 2021. THE ABOVE

CHANGES ILLUSTRATE THE GROWING CONCERN BY

AUSTRALIAN UNIONISTS AND THEIR UNIONS. (AUSTRALIAN

UNIONS : B.FORD &D.PLOWMAN p309 )



ACCORDING TO THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS,

UNION MEMBERSHIP HAS DROPPED FROM 51% OF THE

WORKPLACE IN 1976, TP 42% IN 1988 (AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS: DEERY & PLOWMAN. 3rd ED p 227)



THESE STATISTICS SHOW THAT UNION MEMBERSHIP DID

NOT GROW PROPORTIONALLY TO THE WORKFORCE

EXPANSION AS HAPPENED IN THE PAST. THE ABS

OBSERVED THAT UNION MEMBERSHIP HAS FALLEN

ACROSS ALL AGE GROUPS, NEARLY ALL INDUSTRIES, AND

IN BOTH, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR.



ANOTHER DOWNFALL OF UNIONS IS THAT THAY TARGET

WORKER AND IN THE PROCESS THEY NEGLECT THE "AGED"

SECTION OF THE EMPLOYEE WORKFORCE. ON THE OTHER

HAND YOUNG WORKERS SHOW VERY LITTLE INTEREST IN

UNIONS IN THE INITIAL STAGES OF WORK. THEREFOR THE

REAL CONCERN OF UNIONS SHOULD NOT BE UNION

DENSITY AMONGST YOUNG WORKERS BUT RATHER THE

BROADER MEMBERSHIP PROBLEM FACING UNIONS.



THE DECLINE IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE MANUFACTURING

SECTOR PROVED TO BE A BIG BLOW TO UNIONS. MOST OF

THE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH WAS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR,

WHICH HAD LESS UNIONIZED MEMBERS THAN THE PUBLIC

SECTOR. MANUFACTURING ENTERPRIZES (MORE THAN 100

EMPLOYEE"S) FELL BY 21% AND SMALL FIRMS (LESS THAN

100 EMPLOYEE"S) ROSE BY 13% IN AUSTRALIA IN THE PAST

20 YEARS. (INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: DEERY & PLOWMAN 3RD ED. p

228)



IT IS ALSO ARGUED THAT IDEAS IN ASSOCIATION WITH

"NEW IDEA" HAS HAD AN IMPACT ON UNION DENSITY

BECAUSE OF THEIR INFLUENCES ON THE POLICIES OF

GOVERNMENT. IN THE STATE OF QUEENSLAND, THE

DECLINE IN UNION DENSITY HAS BEEN PARTICURLARLY

ACUTE. UNION DENSITY IN THIS AREA HAS FALLEN FROM

48.8% IN 1982 TO 45.6% IN 1986 AND FURTHER TO 39.2% IN

1988. THIS OCCURRENCE WAS DURING THE PERIOD OF

LEGISLATIVE POLICIES DIRECTED AGAINST UNIONS

(REGULATION). GOVERNMENTS DO NOT ONLY INFLUENCE

UNIONS THROUGH LEGISLATION BUT RATHER AS THEIR

ROLE AS EMPLOYER"S AS WELL. (DECLINE IN UNION DENSITY:

DAVID PEETZ)



ANOTHER FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECLINE IS

EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE TOWARDS UNINOS. A NUMBER OF

WRITERS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE DOWNWARD SHIFT IN

COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR UNIONS ACROSS THE

INDUSTRIAL WORLD. IN AUSTRALIA, PUBLIC OPINION

POLLS SHOW THAT UNIONS ARE SEEN AS BEEN TO

POWERFUL AND AS BEEN UNRESPONSIVE TO MEMBER"S

NEEDS. SUCH PERCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS HAVE SUPPORTED

THE DECLINE. A SURVEY CARRIED OUT BY McNAIR

ANDERSON POLLING AGENCY AND SENTRY HOLDINGS

SHOW THAT ONLY 6% OF THOSE SURVEYED HAVE

CONFIDENCE IN UNIONS, AND MORE THAN 45% OF UNION

MEMBER"S SURVEYED HAVE "HARDLY ANY" CONFIDENCE

IN UNIONS LEADER"S.



UNIONS WERE ALSO SEEMED TO BE BLAMED FOR BOTH,

INFLATION AND STRIKES IN THE1980"S, THIS CAUSED BY

WAGE DEMANDS AND UNION POPULARITY. THE ROLE OF

MANAGEMENT WAS SEEN, AS BEEN ANOTHER DAMAGING

FACTOR IN THE DECLINE. FIRSTLY JOB SATISFACTION,

WEREBY BENEFITS ARE PROVIDED BY EMPOLYER"S

TOGETHER WITH OPERATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN ORDER

TO SATISFY EMPLOYEES. THE THEORY BEING THAT

CONTENT EMPLOYEE"S NEED NOT BE UNIONIZED.

SECONDLY, THE ROLE OF COMPANIES TO REMOVE THE

REPRESENTATIONAL ROLE OF UNIONS. EMPLOYEES WORK

HARD TO CREATE A JOB ENVIRONMENT CONDUSIVE TO

FLEXIBLE WORK AND MOREOVER REWARDS.



ANOTHER MAJOR REASON FOR THE DECLINE IS THAT

UNION, OVER TIME LOST THEIR CREDIBALITY. THEY FAILED

IN FULFILLING THEIR PROMISES TO EMPLOYEES WHICH

EVENTUALLY LED TO EMPLOYEES WITHDRAWING THEIR

MEMBERSHIP AS THEY NOW FELT THAT UNIONS WERE

INEDEQUATE.THE LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP WAS NOT ONLY

THE LOSS OF PREVIOUS MEMBERS, BUT ALSO THE LOSS OF

SEVERAL NEW EMPLOYEES CONSIDERING MEMBERSHIP. IT

NOW BECOMES A VERY LARGE TASK TO REGAIN

CREDIBALITY AND THUS RESTORE CONFIDENCE.



ALTHOUGH THESE ARE PERSPECTIVES OF MAJORITY OF

THE CITIZENS, UNIIONS FOR A FACT HAS "SUBSTANTIALLY

IMPROVED THE LIVING STANDARDS OF AUSTRALIANS."

(AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: DEERY & PLOWMAN 3RD ed.

231). COMPARING TO OTHER COUNTRIES, AUSTRALIA HAS A

LARGE NUMBER OF TRADE UNIONS INTERNATIONALLY,

MOST OF WHICH IS SMALL AND HAS FEWER THAN 5000

MEMBER"S.



DESPITE DECLINING IN MEMBERSHIP, IT IS APPARENT THAT

AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNIONISM REMAINED FAIRLY

STABLE OVER THE PAST HALF DECADE. ALTHOUGH

CHANGES HAVE OCCURRED IN THE NATURE OF THE

ECONOMY, IN PRODUCTION AND EMPLOYMENT AND IN

THE LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY, THE DISTRIBUTION OF

AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNIONS HAS REMAINED LARGELY

UNALTERED.THERE HAS BEEN A DECLINE IN UNION

MEMBERSHIP IN AUSTRALIA, BUT COMPARING TO THE

U.S.A AND THE U.K, IT IS FAIRLY STABLE.



IN THE RECENT LABOUR ORGANIZATION RESEARCH, IT IS

INDICATED THAT UNION DENSITY HAS BEEN IN A SLUMP

AND IS FALLING IN ALL BUT A HANDFUL OF COUNTRIES,

THESE EXCEPTIONS BEING: SOUTH AFRICA, THE

PHILIPPINES, SPAIN AND TURKEY. AUSTRALIA ON THE

OTHERHAND IS AMONGST THOSE COUNTRIES WITH THE

MOST STEEPLY DECLINING DENSITY, NAMELY: New Zealand,

UNITED STATES, UNITED KINGDOM, FRANCE, GREECE,

TAIWAN AND ISRAEL. UNIONIZATION IS LESS THAN 20% IN

APPROXIMATELY 48 OF THE 92 COUNTRIES FOR WHICH THE

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION REPORTS DATA.

(J.I.R 1998)



AUSTRALIAN UNION MEMBERSHIP FELL FROM 46%IN 1986

TO 31% IN 1996. UNION DENSITY IN AUSTRALIA FELL MOST

RAPIDLY IN THE MINING AND MANUFACTURING

INDUSTRY. IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT THE ACTU"s TARGET

OF 200 000 MEMBERS IN THE 2 YEARS ENDING JULY 1997

FAILED AND RATHER SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ABOUT 86 000

MEMBERS. (J.I.R. 1998)



DUE TO THE STEEP DECLINE IN UNION MEMBERSHIP IN THE

1980"s AND 1990"s, UNIONS WERE CONVINCED OF A NEED TO

ESTABLISH A MORE CONSOLIDATED AND MORE EFFICIENT

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE. HOWEVER, THIS

RESTRUCTURING HAS PROVEN TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN

AN ELUSIVE GOAL. THERE IS LITTLE OR NO EVIDENCE TO

INDICATE THAT UNION RECRUITMENT EFFORTS HAVE

BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE BECAUSE YOUNG EMPLOYEES

AND WOMEN HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY UNUNIONIZED.

THIS BEING THE CASE, UNION RECRUITMENT IS A

FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR IN THE FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN

UNIONS. (CAM 1005 READING KIT:INSTITUTIONAL FOCUS OF THE

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP)







FROM THE EVIDENCE PROVIDED, THIS DECLINE FROM THE

1890"s IN TRADE UNIONS IS A LONG TERM TREND. AS IN THE

1890"s, WHERE TRADE UNIONS SUFFERED AND WHERE

ECONOMICPROSPERITY TURNED TO DEPRESSION AND

THEREAFTER FROM 1901 UNTIL 1921 WHERE UNION

MEMBERSHIP GREW FROM VIRTUALLY 0 TO MORE THAN

HALF OF THE AUSTRALIAN WORKFORCE, AND AGAIN A

SLUMP UNTIL 1924. AS RESTRUCTURING IS IMPORTANT

AND VITAL TO UNION MOVEMENTS, IT IS TIME CONSUMING

AND IS A PROCEDURE WHICH HAS TO BE SLOWLY PHASED

IN, DUE TO THESE FACTORS IT IS REGARDEDAS LONG TERM

AND CANNOT BE CORRECTED OVERNIGHT.















TO CONCLUDE, WE HAVE LOOKED AT ALL THE REASONS

CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECLINING UNION MEMBERS IN

AUSTRALIA. IN SPECULATION IT CAN BE SEEN THAT WHEN

THIS DECLINE STARTED, WHAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE

DECLINE AND THE EFFECTS SUFFERED BY UNIONS BECAUSE

OF THIS DECLINE. BY COMPARING AUSTRALIA"S

MEMBERSHIP DECLINE TO THAT OF OTHER COUNTRIES

FACED WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS, IT CAN BE SEEN THAT

THE FALL OF MEMBERSHIP HAS BEEN MODERATE. AS THIS

PAPER OUTLINES, ALL THE VARIOS CAUSES CONTRIBUTING

TO THESE PROBLEMS AND THE DIFFERENT SECTORS IN THE

INDUSTRY FROM WHICH THESE PROBLEMS ORIGINATE, IT

IS SAFE TO SAY THAT UNIONS ARE FACED WITH A

DIFFICULT TASK OF RESTRUCTURING, BUT AS IN THE PAST

WHERE THERE HAS BEEN DECREASES AND INCREASES IN

UNION MEMBERSHIP, TIME WILL SHOW THE

UNPREDICTABLE SHIFTS IN UNION MEMBERSHIPS IN

AUSTRALIA.