Trade Union

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Trade+Union
An organization of workers in the same skilled occupation or related skilled occupations who act toget
her to secure for allmembers favorable wages, hours, and other working conditions.
Trade unions in the United States were first organized in the early nineteenth century. The main purpo
se of a trade union is tocollectively bargain with employers for wages, hours, and working conditions.
Until the 1930s trade unions were at a severedisadvantage with management, mainly because few la
ws recognized the right of workers to organize. With the passage of theNational Labor Relations Act (
Wagner
Act) of 1935 (29 U.S.C.A. 151 et seq.), the right of employees to form, join, or aidLABOR UNIONS was
recognized by the federal government.
Trade unions are entitled to conduct a strike against employers. A strike is usually the last resort of a tr
ade union, but whennegotiations have reached an impasse, a strike may be the only bargaining tool le
ft for employees.
There are two principal types of trade unions: craft unions and industrial unions. Craft unions are comp
osed of workersperforming a specific trade, such as electricians, carpenters, plumbers, or printers. Ind
ustrial union workers include all workersin a specific industry, no matter what their trade, such as auto
mobile or steel workers. In the United States, craft and industrialunions were represented by different
national labor organizations until 1955. The craft unions that dominated the AMERICANFEDERATION OF L
ABOR (AFL) opposed organizing industrial workers.
During the 1930s several AFL unions seeking a national organization of industrial workers formed the
Committee for IndustrialOrganization (CIO). The CIO aggressively organized millions of industrial work
ers who labored in automobile, steel, and rubberplants. In 1938 the AFL expelled the unions that had f
ormed the CIO. The CIO then formed its own organization and changedits name to Congress of Indust
rial Organizations. In 1955 the AFL and CIO merged into a single organization, the AFL-CIO.
Membership in U.S. trade unions has fallen since the 1950s, as the number of workers in the manufac
turing sector of the U.S.economy has steadily declined. Union membership in 1995 comprised just 14.
9 percent of the workforce, compared with ahigh of 34.7 percent in 1954.

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/introduction-to-trade-unions
http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/2/d/UCU_factsheet1_unions.pdf

Current roles of trade union

https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/role-trade-unions-andtheir-representatives

Work effectively with trade unions

The role of trade unions and their representatives
Although trade unions look after the interests of their members, they also recognise the
advantages of working in partnership with employers. This is because a successful,
profitable business is good for workers and therefore good for the union and its members.
An employer and a recognised trade union interact with the workplace in a number of
ways, as set out below.
Negotiating collective agreements
If you recognise a trade union in your workplace, you will probably have agreed with the
union to bargain with it about the terms and conditions of employment of those workers
who fall within a defined bargaining unit.
Sometimes, that bargaining unit will include all workers but it is common for the unit to
include just certain categories of worker, eg production line operatives or technicians.
The objective of such collective bargaining is to conclude a collective agreement with the
trade union. Where an independent trade union is recognised, the employer is obliged to
disclose information to the trade union to facilitate the bargaining process.
Download the code of practice on disclosure of information to trade unions for
collective bargaining purposes from the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) website
(PDF, 179K)(link is external).
A collective agreement is between a recognised trade union (or group of unions) and an
employer (or groups of employers). Most typically, they set out the terms and conditions eg pay, benefits and working time - to be included in the employment contracts of the
workers in the bargaining unit. Other collective agreements are purely procedural and
regulate the working relationship between the union(s) and the employer(s).
A collective agreement isn't legally enforceable unless it:

is in writing
states that it's meant to be legally enforceable
In the UK, most collective agreements are not legally enforceable.
For more information on collective bargaining and collective agreements, see our guide
onrecognising and derecognising a trade union.

Informing and consulting

Under certain circumstances, you must inform - and consult with - representatives of a
recognised trade union about:

collective redundancies - see our guide on redundancy: the options

transfers of business ownership - see our guide on responsibilities to
employees if you buy or sell a business
occupational and personal pension schemes - see our guide: know your legal
obligations on pensions
health and safety - see our guide on how to consult your employees on health
and safety
However, you could enter a voluntary agreement with a trade union to inform and consult
the union about broader business and workplace issues on a regular, ongoing basis. The
union may want to set up a joint consultative committee specifically for this purpose.
For further information, see our guide on how to inform and consult your employees.
Representing workers at disciplinary and grievance hearing
Employees and other workers have the right to be accompanied at a disciplinary or
grievance hearing. They can choose to be accompanied by a co-worker or a union
representative. Often, the union representative, will be a workplace representative who is
also a co-worker.
Non- and partly unionised workplaces
You may have to inform and consult other workplace representatives - known as
'employee representatives' - where you:

Don't recognise any trade union in your workplace.

Do recognise a union (or unions) in your workplace but not all your workers are
represented by that union (or those unions). This may be because they do not belong to
the bargaining unit for which the trade union is recognised.

Future of trade union

http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/relations/future-of-trade-unions.htm
http://cep.lse.ac.uk/conference_papers/14_12_2009/dunn.pdf