I read this week’s study material on trade unions and looked up their impact on individuals and society. Although I don’t have the proper access to talk to union members or former union members face to face, I still want to talk about unions as I know them.
There are advantages to joining a union. I noticed in this week’s reading that in societies where capital is monopolized, it is a good thing for workers or employees in companies. Because the union’s participation helps them as a powerful group to fight against some of the injustices that are going on in the workplace and the company appropriately so that they can get fair treatment. However, its existence also has a downside. For example, when the union reached its later stage of development, it seemed to become a gathering place of bureaucracy, a disguised vehicle for corporate wealth, which could not achieve the fairness and justice expected by employees, but instead became a kind of exploitation. As a result, the wrong side of unions is exposed. However, I can see from the relevant research I found on the Internet that although the bureaucracy in trade unions is mentioned in the course materials, the number of trade union members has maintained positive growth in general. Even the union membership rate in the public sector is much higher than in the private sector.
For this reason, I’d like to join the union. Considering these terms, the benefits of unions outweigh the costs, especially when I examine how union membership rates in the public sector are compared with those in the private sector. Such a great contrast may be regarded as a commitment and guarantee from the state and the government to some extent.
Sources:
Kasperkevic, Jana. “Why Unions Are so Worried about Right-to-Work Laws.” Marketplace, 24 Feb. 2017, https://www.marketplace.org/2017/02/24/push-nationwide-right-work-law-could-weaken-unions/.
Kristof, Nicholas. “The Cost of a Decline in Unions.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/opinion/nicholas-kristof-the-cost-of-a-decline-in-unions.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0.
Stevenson, Mason. “Pros and Cons of Labor Unions.” HR Exchange Network, 28 Nov. 2022, https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/hr-compensation-benefits/articles/pros-and-cons-of-labor-unions.
