Question

What conditions in the workplace are most likely to trigger a union organizing campaign? Do you believe that union membership in the United States will increase or decrease in the years to come? Why or why not?

Answer 1

The workplace conditions that could potentially give rise to unionizing by the employees can be considered to be the following:

LAYOVERS
The fear of job security would provide the biggest motivation for individuals to run towards joining a union to represent their interest. If the employees can gather enough support, they can eventually lay down their point of view and terms for the company’s management bringing job security forward as a result.

NEED FOR ACCEPTANCE “MOB MENTALITY”
If one or more employees in a workforce are part of a union, they would also try to recruit more to solidify the union’s position in the given company. Being that “mob mentality” exists in every given scenario where a group is considered, more and more employees would end up joining the union to solidify their interests.

UNQUALIFIED AND UNSATISFIED WORKFORCE
Working conditions when not ideal would create the need to seek union representation in order to create better terms of engagement for the employees. It is more relevant for employees with smaller skills or qualifications to run to a union because of their insecurities.

LOW MINIMUM WAGE
While the government sets the lowest minimum wage for any industry, the fact that some companies tend to stick to the baseline value and offer only the required benefits creates a need for union representation.

TENSION BETWEEN THE EMPLOYEES AND THE MANAGEMENT
Unreasonable management often calls for union representation in order for the employees to safeguard their interests and renegotiate the terms of engagement.

I believe that the role and influence of unions would decrease in the coming years and there is a specific reason for that. The fact that strategic HRM practices have allowed for a greater understanding between the employees and employer as well as the fact that companies now recognize the need to invest in their human race in order to gain competitive advantage has allowed us the understanding that the companies would look after their employees better, making it so that their processes are better looked after as well as their growth is maintained. They would offer job enrichment and training and therefore, the need for an employee to seek union representation would decrease in the future.