Role of Professional Associations and Unions Gauri
Role of Professional Associations and Unions Gauri
Role of Professional Associations and Unions Gauri
AT CENTRE LEVEL
AT STATE LEVEL
Meaning of union
A union or labor organization is any organization in which employees participate for the
purpose of dealing with their employer about grievances, labour disagreements, wages, hours
of work, and conditions of employment.
Unions, through size of the membership, have greater power in their relationship with the
employer than does a single individual or even small group.
DEFINITION:
A union is a formal and legal group that works through a collective bargaining
agent to present desires to management formally, through the legal context of
the National Labor Relations Board(NLRB).
Objectives of unions
Wages: employees and their union can be expected to ask for wages which are comparable to those
in similar jobs in the local market.
Promotions: unions will insist that length of service be a factor in promotions.
Layoffs: the union will insist that seniority play a part in regulating layoffs; qualifications being equal,
the junior service employees will be paid off first.
Discipline: employees will be disciplined for just cause; this is standard in all labor agreements.
Grievances procedures: the union will insist that a grievance procedure be established whereby
management decisions will be reviewable by representatives of management and the union; if there is
still disagreements, the dispute will be referred to arbitration.
Fringe benefits: pensions, vacations and holidays, social insurance, and general welfare programs will
be part of the negotiations, with an attempt to make them comparable to the trend in our society.
Purposes of union
Unions are a group of workers who band together for the purpose of representing their
members’ interests related to conditions of employment.
To contracts conditions such as unacceptable nurse-patient ratio.
To play role in determining standards of care.
To adjust pay scales, benefits, dependable procedures for scheduling vacations and all other
conditions important to nurses.
To create government-funded programs to fund and encourage nursing education.
To protect RNs from violence and harassment on the job.
To mandating safe RN-to-patient ratios at all healthcare facilities.
To protect the employee from unfair employer treatment, such as, being passed over for a promotion
without an explanation, failure to post job opportunities, biased interview practices, unreasonable or
unsafe staff scheduling , excessive overtime, and unfair transfers, layoffs or terminations.
To provide a mechanism whereby nurse can address issues, such as staffing and quality of care,
thereby controlling and maintaining their own practice
ROLE OF UNIONS:
Nurses must know their legal rights and the rights of the manager.
Nurses must act clearly within the law at all times.
Nurses must report to NLRB, if a manager acts unlawfully.
Nurses must have information of regular meetings.
Nurses must set meetings times conviently.
Unions in India
“The primary collective bargaining unit is the union.”
Nurses unions or their collective bargaining power is the most vital and indirect determinant
of working conditions. Strong union and its bargaining strength determine the conditions and
facilities of work.
Collective bargaining is the process of sharing power between a union (organized labor) and
the employer (management) for the purpose of resolving issues with selected aspects of
employment.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
INTRODUCTION :- The concept of collective bargaining was introduced very late in india,
as trade unions were formed only in the 20th century. The concept of collective bargaining
attained significance only after 1962. The term ‘collective’ in collective bargaining is used
because both the employer and employees come together and put a collective effort to
establish mutually agreeable terms and conditions for employment. The phrase ‘ collective
bargaining’ is said to be coined by Sydney and Beatrice webb; and great Britain I said to be
the ‘home of collective bargaining’. Bargaining is the process of debating, discussing and
even threatening so as to arrive at an amicable agreement for those being represented.
Due to rapid social
change and dissatisfaction with values and norms, the nurses are also striving towards
collective bargaining in order to meet their professional and personal needs. Although the
nursing profession has been represented by a professional association say trained nurses
association of india since 1908, interest in labour unions is increasing due to administrative
practices, support the interest in labour unions.
DEFINITION :-
To protect the rights and interest of workers through collective action and keeping in mind
that all the workers are treated on equality basis and it should be emphasized that unilateral
decision on the part of the employee dosen’t occurs.
To resolve the differences between nurse employees and management through negotiation.
collective: collective bargaining is a two way group process where the employers
representative and employees representatives sit together to negotiate terms of employment.
Dynamic: it is a dynamic and that go on changing over a period and grows and expand the
way of agreement, the way of implementation and way of discussion.
Flexibility: it is flexible and continuous process. It is not static as there much scope of
compromise for reaching to a mutual agreement.
Voluntary: both parties come to the negotiation table voluntarily in order to go in particular
negotiation. It is based on discussion , mutual trust, and understanding.
Formal: it is a formal process in which certain employment related issues are to be regulated
at national, organizational and workplace levels.
Importance:
Importance to society
Importance to employers
1. It becomes easier for the management to resolve issues at the bargaining level rather
than taking up complaints of individual workers.
2. Collective bargaining tends to promote a sense of job security among employees and
thereby tends to reduce the cost of labor turnover to management.
3. Collective bargaining opens up the channel of communication between the workers
and the management and increases worker participation in decision making.
4. Collective bargaining plays a vital role in settling and preventing industrial disputes.
Importance to employees
(1) Collective bargaining develops a sense of self respect and responsibility among the
employees.
(2) It increases the strength of the workforce, thereby, increasing their bargaining
capacity as a group.
(3) Collective bargaining increases the morale and productivity of employees.
(4) It restricts management’s freedom for arbitrary action against the employees..
(5) The workers feel motivated as they can approach the management on various matters
and bargain for higher benefits.
(6) It helps in securing a prompt and fair settlement of grievances.
It provides a flexible means for the adjustment of wages and employment conditions to
economic and technological changes in the industry, as a result of which the chances for
conflicts are reduced
(a)Economy-wide (national):
(c)company level:
– Reduced individuality
– Disputes are not handled with individual and management only; less room for
personal judgment
– Must pay union dues even if one does not support unionization
The process of collective bargain involve negotiation and discussion between the
management and union. It is a complex process involving a number of procedures,
techniques and tools. This process comprise of five main steps:
1 Preparatory
c phase
phase
7 Enforcing
agreement 2 Discussion
phase
6 Formalizing
3 Proposal
agreement
phase
5 Settlement
4 Bargaining
phase
phase
Preparatory phase
Discussion phase
This following activities are carried out during discussion phase:
Decide an appropriate time and set a proper climate for negotiation.
Decision on ground rules.
Maintenance of mutual trust and understanding.
Involve in active listening asking questions, observation, and summarizing
decisions.
Collective bargaining.
Bargaining Phase
Problem – solving
Proposals are set forth
Settlement Phase
After the bargaining phase, settlement phase starts with:
1. The management must develop and consistently follow a realistic labour policy, which
should be accepted and carried out by its representatives.
2. The management must grant recognition to the trade union/ association without any
reservation and accept it as a constructive force in an organization.
3. The management should assure the employees goodwill will always exist. It should
periodically examine the rules and regulations to determine the attitude and degree of
comfort of its employees and gain their goodwill and cooperation.
4. The management should extend fair treatment to the trade union in order to make it a
responsible and conservative body.
5. The management should not wait for the trade union to bring employee grievances to its
notice but should rather create the conditions in which employees can approach the
management themselves, without involving the trade union/ association.
6. The management should deal only with the one union or association in the organization.
7. While weighing economic consequences of collective bargaining the management should
place greater emphasis on social considerations.
1. In view of the rights granted to the organised labour, the trade union should eliminate
racketeering and other undemocratic practices within their own organization.
2. Trade union leader should appreciate the economic implications of collective bargaining,
for their demands and generally met from the income and resources of the organizations
in which their members are employed.
3. Trade union leader should not imagine that their only function is to secure higher wages,
shorter hours of work and better working conditions fro their members. They and their
members have an obligation to assist the management in the elimination of waste and in
improving the quality and quantity of production.
4. Trade union leader should assist in the removal of such restrictive rules and regulations
that are likely to increase costs and prices and reduce the amount that can be paid out as
wages.
5. Trade union leaders should resort to strike only when all other methods of the settlement
of a dispute have failed.
Nurses are apparently striving towards collective bargaining in order to meet their
professional and personal needs.
It raise the status of the profession socially and economically.
It requires a favourable organizational climate,freedom of associations and problem
solving attitude.
It increases nurses participation in decision making.
Collective bargaining results better understanding between nurse,client and other
administrative staff.
Nurses have improved their economic and general welfare by organizing through
collective bargaining.
The downsizing of nursing staff, systems redesign, and oppressive management
practices have created such poor nursing practice environments that improvement in
wages no longer is viewed as the primary purpose of collective bargaining.
Collective bargaining provides safe practice environment free of mandatory overtime
and other work issues.
It increase the quality health outcomes for patient.
It improve the present patient care environment.
References:
Masih Shabnam. Essential of Nursing Management in service & education. ed
2nd.jalandhar:Lotus publisher ;2012, Pp – 367-72.
M.Sc(N)1st Year