There has been a lot in the news recently about unionisation, so we’re going to take a closer look at what a union is, the pros and cons and how HR can work with unions effectively.
What is a unionisation?
A trade union according to CIPD (Trade Unions | Factsheets | CIPD) is an organisation whose members are workers or employees. Unions are there to represent and project the current and future interests of their members.
Unionisation can assist in the negotiating of working conditions; the most common being wages or pay. Negotiations by consulting and negotiating with the organisation and represent the views of the membership is called collective bargaining.
To be a part of the union, members pay a fee and can elect representatives to also give advice when they experience a problem at work.
Trade unions have existed in the UK for centuries. The origins of it go back to medieval craft guilds but the onset of the industrial period of the 19th century promptly led to the introduction of the Trade Union Act 1871.
From the 1880’s up to the first world war unions were becoming increasingly recognised. Post War we saw union membership grow up to 8.3 million in 1920 but this was halved to just over 4.4 million by 1933.
The post second world war period again saw a growth in union power (from 1945 – 1979). This saw a boom in full employment and strikes steadily rising.
The 1970’s were when unions were at the summit of power – membership in the IK peaked at 13.2 million which meant that over half of the working population was a member of a union.
Trade union membership has seen a decline since its heyday in the 1970’s with the intervention of the conservative government under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980’s. Figures are half what they were in 1979 with new and future workforce making up just 4% of the total membership.
Since the 1970’s there has been a transformation across many aspects of employee relations (the area of HR that deals with the relationship between a department trade union side and the organisation) in particular with a change in role and influence of trade unions.
Another reason for the decline could be attributed to the evolution of HR championing workers rights to a much greater extent than what we have seen in the past, however it does not mean that HR will replace the need for unionsation – we will look later at how HR and unions can work together.
The pros and cons of unionisation
Trade unions have a status in law which gives them special rights that other employee groups may not. Unions have enhanced legal protections to negotiate pay and working conditions as well as the right to be informed and consulted over changes, such as:
- TUPE transfers
- Health & Safety matters
- Redundancies
Some trade unions are officially recognised in workplaces, the law gives these more say on workplace issues. If negotiations do not lead to a resolution of a dispute between the DTUS and the employer, then it may call for industrial action.
Whilst in the 1970’s walkouts were common and frequent (just look at the way that unionisation is parodied in the 1971 film “Carry on at your convenience”). The law governing industrial action is complex including the rules relating to the timing and notice given. Since 2017 there have been extra controls on ballot thresholds – for the ballot to be effective there must be a turnout of at least 50% of trade union members who are entitled to vote. A simple majority must then vote in favour of the strike action for it to be passed.
In 2022 legislation will be implemented to allow agency workers to fill in for striking staff (up until now this has been banned.
Some of the benefits of trade unions include:
- Unions promote higher wages – with the collective bargaining we looked at earlier. Unions provide workers with higher wages and benefits.
- Unions help to get better benefits – i.e., more sick days or holiday/vacation days
- Protects workers rights to work – unionised workers have an increased sense of job security and equality. They also have a better level of defence against disciplinary actions like warnings
- Enhance workers powers to negotiate – collectively together instead of trying to negotiate as an individual is easier and more powerful
Some of the downsides of a labour union can be seen as:
- They do not provide representation for free as you have to pay a membership fee
- It does discourage individuality – group working can lead to group thinking which lowers individual creativity
- Some believe they set workers against the company – and feel it becomes ‘us vs them’ which can hurt company culture and can lead to conflicts between management and workers
- It is also felt that union decisions do not always benefit everyone – unions advocate for benefits of others, which may not be a priority for some workers
How can HR work with unions?
CIPD research in 2022( Collective employee voice | CIPD) shows that despite the downturn in membership, unionisation continues to play a significant role in many UK workplaces – especially in the public sector.
More than half of the people (53%) who completed the CIPD survey said that the union influence on their organisations was either significant or very significant when part of public sector organisations.
The most constructive approach is to develop positive working relationships with recognised trade unions:
- Ensure a positive joint working ethos runs across the entire organisation so that managers at all levels approach working relationships with union representatives in a constructive way to build trust
- Make sure that this trust is further developed by having honest and direct communications between management and the employee representatives
- Take a partnership approach – although this may not be seen or promoted as a modern employee relations model the focus on joint working, collaboration and mutuality is and so this is why a partnership approach to create long-term positive relationships is important
- Part of this approach is to have early initiative-taking conversations and solutions – rather than sitting in a room once a situation has escalated. Early engagement is important
- Determine the rules of engagement – define the rules up front. What is the common purpose, how will parties work together what the procedure is for managing disputes, what are the rules of escalation
- Revisit the policy framework – think about replacing the traditional performance, disciplinary & grievance procedure with an overarching resolution framework. This will lead to a more evidence based, and people centred approach which encourages people to work together to reach resolution and create a better employee experience
- Train people to resolve issues – deal with issues informally and resolve them swiftly to avoid them escalating into a strike or an employment tribunal case. Having individual in HR, management and unions trained in conflict resolution skills will help.
- Court – It is the last resort. industrial action and litigation should always be the last move on the board rather than the first. HR can create a culture that will enable collaboration, remove animosity & acrimony that can be disruptive and a barrier to progress.
Whilst unionisation has been on the decline, the need for unions is still apparent and fostering a positive relationship will enable greater employee experience.
If you want to know more about unions and building effective relationships to create a better employee experience, then we would love to hear from you.
@Karen
