How Collective Bargaining Rights Affect Employees
To understand how collective bargaining rights affect employees, you have to understand what a trade union is first. Trade unions are organizations of workers that get together to achieve common goals and objectives. They include better conditions at work, better pay, medical benefits, and so forth. Trade unions, like any other type of organization, go by the same philosophy of “united we stand, divided we fall.” To any sort of trade union, like steel workers' unions, collective bargaining rights are key.
One such example would be the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin's public employees on the chopping block due to Republican Governor Scott Walker. Laws that restrict and/or completely do away with collective bargaining rights are considered to be a form of legal “union busting.” This has been one of the biggest issues in the world let alone in the United States and Wisconsin.
With collective bargaining rights, unions and other groups of workers negotiate with their employers to regulate the working conditions. They talk about wages, training, health, vacation time, hours of work, and many other important subjects. In the case of the United States, collective bargaining is usually covered by theNational Labor Relations Actwhich was established back in 1935. In the case of the United States, one should take a look at the National Labor Relations Act. This covers the basic rights of employees let alone those in unions or other organizations.
Under “Section 7” of the law, employees do have the right to organize, join, or assist labor organizations. They can collectively bargain through representatives that they vote for. Employers that violate any aspect of the law would be implementing “unfair labor practices.” Without collective bargaining rights, employees are pretty much backed up against the wall without any means to defend themselves. While workers can organize, they cannot bargain as a whole. Individually, it is highly unlikely that they can bargain with their employers. However, not all employers are “unfair.”
One should pay very close attention to Wisconsin. Soon, there will berecall electionsfor eight of the Wisconsin state senators. This is due to the austerity budget by Governor Walker that effectively hurt collective bargaining for employees. Because of the political backlash against Republicans, this could help out the Democrats in the near future. It shows how collective bargaining rights are important. There are many examples that can be used.
Say that you are working in an area where there is a high number of violent acts for example. You and your co-workers feel that your lives are in danger when going to and leaving work. You and the others band together and negotiate with your employers for hired security guards to make everybody feel safe.
Another example would be the work conditions. If it is hot at the work place, you and the others can collectively bargain to get air conditioning and/or a water cooler.
Again, collective bargaining rights rely on that philosophy of having a united front. As a countermeasure, union busters go by the strategy of “divide and conquer.”
