Trade Unions
Written by Anuar Burkitbayev
Recall a time when you were mistreated by a teacher. Perhaps you were given a strike when you shouldn’t have been, or given a C when technically… you could’ve gotten at least a B+. This is where your fellow peers (if you have supportive ones) would step in and have your back by standing up to the teacher. Now the teacher would not listen if it were only 2 or 3 pupils, but if it was the whole class, then the teacher might reconsider his or her decision.
This is what trade unions are: an organized collection of workers in a profession, formed to protect their rights and interests. Trade unions prevent companies and firms from exploiting workers, either by overworking them or offering too little a wage for the amount of work. Other functions of a trade union are:
Negotiating non-wage benefits for workers
Defending rights of workers
Improving working conditions and worker safety
Improving wages and other things such as paid vacations, etc.
Encouraging firms to involve workers in decision making
Supporting workers who are dismissed or taking industrial action
Providing training and education courses for workers
Providing social and recreational activities for workers
Influencing government policy and employment legislation
You might think “that is a long list, and an expensive one too. How do trade unions cover the costs?” Well, a trade union’s main income would come from the workers themselves. In order for a worker to become part of a trade union, they have to provide the trade union with a fraction of their wage. Now, imagine that 6.35 million workers are paying a fraction of their pay to trade unions. That’s a lot of money.
Ok, so Trade Unions are well funded - but how do they change entire firms? Don’t the owners of the firms decide what to do? Yes, but you have to remember, a firm relies on its workers. This is where trade unions have the edge: they are those workers. If a firm refuses to implement new improvements, trade unions and the workers may take “industrial action”. Industrial action is basically the workers chipping away at a firm’s profits in order to increase bargaining strength. There are four main types of industrial action:
Overtime ban - workers only work their contracted hours and no more
Work to rule - workers start working slower by following every rule and regulation
Go-slow - Workers work slower and thus, stymie the production of goods
Strike - note that this is only used as a last resort - workers stop working altogether, completely stopping the production of goods. This can backfire though, as the firm might just fire the workers and hire new ones. Critically, the trade union financially supports workers who are on strike.
