Your HR Guide to Unions

Workers join unions to ensure fair labor practices and standards. These groups work together to negotiate payments, rules, and regulations. Sometimes, there is great tension between employers and unions. This puts HR leaders in a tough spot. 

However, if you educate yourself on unions and their role in the Labor Movement, you can prepare yourself. The pandemic and the consequential Great Resignation are reigniting the ideas of the original Labor Movement. Employees are in the driver's seat. And HR leaders have to accept this and respond accordingly to win the talent wars. 

HR Exchange Network recognizes the need you have for information about unions and has provided the following library of articles on the subject: 

Pros and Cons of Labor Unions

This is the HR Exchange Network's most popular story for a reason. It lays out how labor unions can be both beneficial and detrimental to Human Resources and organizations. You will gain insight about how many people are in unions, what kind of help they provide employees when it comes to pay, and how some dislike having to pay union dues. As a result, you will be able to better prepare for your encounters with unions and to recognize the good and the bad. 

What You Need to Know about Unions

Learn about how big brands like Starbucks and Amazon are fighting against the unionization of their employees during the era of the Great Resignation. Find out a bit about the history of unions and why they exist. Discover why unions and businesses are often at odds. And draw your own conclusions about how union employees fit into your organization.  

Are Unions Making a Comeback?

Unions have resurfaced during the pandemic. Employees are organizing, and a new Labor Movement is on the horizon. People are demanding better wages, more realistic and practical working schedules, child care, healthcare, and better benefits all around. By organizing into unions, employees feel as though they have leverage and a voice, especially within big companies. 

Will Labor Unions Become Stronger in the Coming Years? 

Find out about how labor unions lost their power for a while. Then, learn about how the pandemic caused a resurgence of the Labor Movement and what this means for the future for organized employees and HR leaders. Most experts agree that unions are growing again, and HR leaders need to be ready for relationships and negotiations.

Nine Key Tactics for Successful Union Negotiations

One of the great challenges of dealing with unions is coming to a compromise over pay and regulations. These contract negotiations can take time. In rare cases, they can lead to a strike, which is something you definitely want to avoid. 

Learn practical tactics of negotiation. How should you approach the negotiation? What do you need to understand beforehand? How should you prepare? Knowing what to expect and how to prepare are keys to success. 

Unions are a big part of the workplace. As employees gain more bargaining power, you should expect unions to take on bigger roles once again. While there are pros and cons to this resurgence, HR leaders who prepare themselves and learn about unions will have an edge.  

Photo by Sora Shimazaki for Pexels