Uniom=Ns

Unions * Introduction: Under normal social scenarios, people consider ethics a life value. Ethics encompasses individual, faction or societal politics at the expense of meeting organizational values. These values must represent fairness and social harmony to all members. In the past, there were no groups and people worked as individuals. Unlike individualism, ethics provides a platform of collective organizational responsibility, necessary for social development, on communal and business levels. During the rapid expansion of the industrial society in the early 18th century, workers realized their employers were depriving them of their basic rights. Workers joined together in a single collective voice in order to push for better working conditions. Unions started with an assembly of people in trade or labor groups with the same common goals. Instead of collective responsibility, workers elected members to bargain on their behalf. Union leaders negotiated wage increases and work rules. They also enacted hiring and complaint policies, defended unnecessary contact termination and ensured safety at workplaces. For these reasons, unions became an important parallel to sound, moral business ethics and management success. * Ethical Issue: During the industrial revolution workers had few skills and could not perform certain tasks, which required professionalism. Employers used this opportunity to exploit workers by mistreating and underpaying them, thus maximizing their profits. Though disorganized until the end of 19th century, the unions fought for working fewer hours and wage increases. Unions became fundamental in organizing and protecting employee rights. Through the unions, workers could voice their demands in order to maintain job dignity and security. To promote business ethics, unions are very important. Successful businesses take employee interests at heart. If unions exercise their freedoms without employer restraints, that business is bound to succeed. * Why UNIONS are still important today: In today’s business ethics, unions are important business collaborators. Unions situate didactic standards at workplaces, provide technical knowledge to employees, bargain for superior working environments, parley salary increases and improve the welfare of unionized members. Research has indicated that workers in a union enjoy higher wages and more benefits than non-union workers. For instance, many countries with businesses that do not have unions do not give their employees job breaks. Interestingly, these countries enacted legal laws prohibiting employee vacations. Under this scenario, the state has the right to terminate contracts in case of absenteeism or simple mistakes. Within a union, members can negotiate for vacations and even take a leave of absence. With the current economic tumult, some employers still resist unions, terming them too demanding. To discourage members from joining unions, employers use anti-union campaign strategies, intimidation, firing of union members, half-truths and innuendo, and routine responses wherever workers opt to form unions. Unfortunately, when employees work on individual grounds, they are bound to fail. Unions have great influence and have been historically proven to positively affect sought after changes. Unions speak for the minority and safeguard the interests of workers under law. Additionally, they ensure fair treatment from employers. Many employers recognize the ethical advantages of Union contracts by offering employees superior wages and other benefits. Meeting an employee’s expectations ensures that a worker will remain satisfied. Businesses value an organized workforce, which research has shown, leads to increased employee productivity. (Hirsch and Schumacher 201-219). Traditionally, on social ethical grounds, the role of enterprise towards employees has been to pay an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work. This has changed in recent years. There has been an unprecedented rise of political, social and moral philosophies in the workplace. Some ethical roles of an employer to an employee remain unanswered. In 1935, the Wagner Act prohibited employers from firing workers because of union status. Later, in 1964, the Civil Rights Act prohibited all Americans from exercising racial, national, age, sex and creed discriminations. There were major law alterations which gave civil service workers job protections, especially against unnecessary contract terminations. (Freeman and Kleiner 27-50). Currently, there is debate in America on whether employment at will suits American workers. The answer is, absolutely no. Some businesspersons believe that it is immoral to employ new working policies, other than ‘employment at will’. To them, employees have no rights beyond employment acts and therefore, view them as business hindrances. This is what separates successful and unsuccessful business enterprises. Those that respect employee rights and value humanity are triumphant, while those that reject policy changes, experience business downfall. Organizational conducts such as payments, firing, hiring, and promotions determine business success or failure. This is the reason why unions do exist. In the past, organizational conduct has been wanting, especially when these policies appeared to infringe employee rights. Unions play an important part in ensuring that, these conducts adhere to humanity and working laws. (Freeman and Meddoff 1-21). * Hiring: Hiring process is one organizational conduct that has serious flaws. Although it is not easy to determine the level of skills in a person, there should be an efficient and transparent hiring process. So far, unions have been beneficial in drafting hiring policies, which characterize justice and equality. Good hiring processes include screening, testing and then interviewing recruits. Under screening, employees with the most skills qualify for a detailed and accurate job description. Unions assist employers in recruitment because inequalities arising from improper hiring processes attract civil strikes. Any form of discrimination is unethical and affects the entire workforce. Consider a recruiting organization marred with sex, race, ethnic and religious discriminations, rather than using professionalism. The role of unions is to ensure fairness in the hiring process. Testing should be feasible and unswerving to epitomize fairness. * Promotions and Discharge: Unions bargain for fair promotions in organizations. Many organizations rely on inbreeding, or seniority or nepotism in promoting workers rather than using personal qualifications. This is an ethical issue which has paralyzed many workforces. People without experience and qualification can assume high responsibility and those with qualification are denied the chance. This creates discouragement in the workforce hence, business failure. Additionally, unions protect workers from unnecessary contract terminations. Whenever an employee makes a mistake, there is a fair hearing process to determine a just outcome. (Hirsch and Schumacher 212-216). * Wages: Collective bargaining of workers’ wages is a sole prerogative of unions. In fact, research indicates that unionized workers receive better pay when compared to non-union members. Moreover, some strong unions insist on qualification rather than discriminations. Fortunately, some employers dictated by common sense may decide to increase the wages of lowly paid workers, especially in this period of economic downturn. (Mishel and Matthews 1-10). * Union Criticisms: Despite these important union roles, there are some people and entrepreneurs who believe unions are unnecessary. For example, some people accuse unions of partisan interests especially in benefitting a section of workers. Job seekers fail to secure their dream jobs because some unions characterize with racism, sexism and other discriminations. Organizations blame unions for unemployment because the increase in wages means some workers are bound to lose jobs. Overall, employers are opposed to unions and in some situations many workers lose their jobs because of unionization. (Kramer 1-6). * Conclusion: Unions are vital to workers’ job security and in many instances they improve the lives of the citizenry. Through unions, countries continue to register an expanded economy and social stability. Some infringing laws do not exist today solely because of the formation of unions. In terms of wages, unions continue to fight for workers’ pay increase relative to the amount of work done. Additionally, unions do collective bargaining with employers on behalf of employees, especially on the amount of time employees should work, organization rules and conditions, and other organizational decision making processes. If employers fail to yield to union demands, unions can mobilize their members to strike, boycott or campaign against employee abuses. I believe these are the major reasons why employees need unions. Works Cited * Freeman, Richard, Kleiner, Morris. Do unions make enterprises insolvent' Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 52.1: (1999): 27-50. * Freeman, Richard, Medoff, James. What Do Unions Do' New York: Basic Books, 1984. Print.   * Hirsch, Barry, Schumacher, Edward. Unions, wage, and skills. Journal of Human Resources. 33.1 (1998): 201-219. * Kramarz, Francis. Outsourcing, Unions, and Wages: Evidence from data matching imports, firms, and workers. 2006. Web. 30 April. 2010. <.> * Mishel, Lawrence, Matthew, Walter. How unions help all workers. 2003. Web. 30 * April. 2010. Weil, David. Enforcing OSHA: The role of labor unions. Industrial Relations. 30. 1: (1991): 20-36.