Labor Relations Paper - Labor Unions Contained Lengthy and Multicolored History in the United States

Labor Relations Paper

Labor unions contained lengthy and multicolored history in the United States.

For certain individuals, labor unions invoke opinions of controlled corruption and criminals similar to Jimmy Hoffa. For others, labor union symbolizes unity between the working classes, getting individuals together from various occupations to petition to improve human rights, salaries and benefits. Since 2006, 15.4 million individuals became union members, and even though union membership increased during 1945 as 35% of the nonagricultural labor force became union members, even now unions are consider a strong authority in the United States. In addition, unions are a vital and basic element of the history of the United States trade and the country's development to a financial source of power (Silverman, 2009). The purpose of this report is to define unions and labor relations and their impact on organizations, the force of changes in employee relations strategies, policies and practices but mostly the report will answer if unions are still relevant in the United States.

Unions and Labor Relations

According to Jacob Silverman (2009) a labor relations or labor unions is "an organization of workers dedicated to protecting their interests and improving wages, hours and working conditions. Many different types of workers belong to unions: mechanics, teachers, factory workers, actors, police officers, airline pilots, janitors, doctors, writers and so forth. To form a bargaining unit -- a group who will be represented by a union in dealing with their employer -- a group of workers must be voluntarily recognized by their employer, or a majority of workers in a bargaining unit must vote for representation." Owners are compelled by law to negotiate in good faith with unions, though owners are not obligated