Advantages and Disadvantages of Labor Unions

Labor unions officially obtained the right to represent employees under the labour laws in India when the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was passed in 1935. It guarantees basic rights of labour law in India for private companies to organize trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and enjoy other rights including striking if necessary.

The labour laws act in India deals mainly with the regulation of the contract of employment under which the servant, or the employee, undertakes to work for his master, or the employer, for hire or reward. Under the law, which, under British rule, were imported into India from the mutual law of England, this relationship was treated mainly as a contractual relationship.

Advantages of Labor Unions

Labor unions promote higher wages. 

In a majority of US jobs and careers, union representation helps workers bring in meaningfully higher pays. From data delivered by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2010, unionized workers brought in an extra $800 per month over non-unionized workers.

Labor unions help workers get better benefits.

 When workers are engaged and unionized, they have a much better chance to receive essential benefits from their employer. Over 90% of unionized labours were permitted to medical benefits, while about 70% of non-union workers were entitled to the same benefit. Unionized workers usually wage less of a share of the welfares they receive, earn more vacation days, and have better access to sick days compared to non-union workers as well.

Labor unions help families receive better benefits. 

Domestic partnerships are on the rise in the United States, frequently with children, but non-union labours can struggle to have this family structure protected with welfares like medical care. When family care is measured, union workers had 89% of their benefit costs fenced by their managers, while non-union workers had just 66% of their benefit cost covered.

Provide better access to a funded retirement. 

Over 90% of unionized labours have access to a retirement benefit that is provided by an employer. This may include access to a 401k or IRA contribution plan, a pension plan, or a combination of both. Their non-union matching part have access to retirement welfares through an employer just 64% of the time.

Disadvantages of Labor Unions

Unions can discount worker education and experience. 

Many jobs that are offered in a unionized atmosphere derive through seniority instead of education and experience. This also works in reverse. If there are layoffs that have been settled upon, the least senior person is the first one to go, even if they are the most qualified.

Ongoing dues and may require initiation fees. 

Union dues are often subtracted from a worker’s salary habitually and is a percentage of that worker’s salary. There may also be initiation fees which must be paid to join the union in the first place. These fees can decrease a lot of the salary gains that workers experience by being in a unionized environment.

Participate in activities that workers disagree upon.

 
Not every worker may settle with the applicants that a union may endorse or a cause that the union may lobby for, but their dues are still being spent on those causes. A few states have permitted labors to opt out of that portion of their union dues if there is disagreement, but that is an exception more than a rule.

 

Labor unions discourage individuality. 

There is strength in numbers, which is a great benefit for worker safety and security. Working in groups also inclines to produce “group think,” which limits individual creativity. Labors are often bound by the choices a union will make, even though they disagree with them. All it may take is a majority vote for an action to be taken and then you’re stuck with that decision unless you decide to resign.