CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
A trade union is an organization made up of members (a membership-based organisation) and its membership must be made up mainly of workers. One of a trade union’s main aims is to protect and advance the interests of its members in the workplace. Most trade unions are independent of any employer. However, trade unions try to develop close working relationships with employers. This can sometimes take the form of a partnership agreement between the employer and the trade union which identifies their common interests and objectives. According to Armstrong (1999), trade unions have existed to “redress the balance of power between employers and employees.” In other words, unions exist to let management know that they cannot take workers for granted and that there will be, from time to time, alternative views on issues affecting employees. Thus, Trade Unions are voluntary organisations formed by workers to fight for improved economic and work conditions of their members at work. A union has been defined as “a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of mainly maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives” (Webbs, 1920). Dunlop (1984) further elaborated on the efforts of trade unions by citing that they are primarily concerned with industrial jurisprudence – being involved in grievance and arbitration procedures, rules governing promotion, transfers, discipline, dismissals, etc.–and the economic regulation of employment – regulation of salaries, benefits, working hours and terms of the wage–work bargain. Under the Labour Act 651, a trade union means any association of workers, the principal purposes of which are to promote and protect their economic and social interests (Labour Act, 2003). From all these different definitions, it is evident that the fundamental purpose of a trade union is to offer its members protection and defence from the arbitrary action of management, and the economic system within which they are employed Labour unionism has been seen over the years as one of the most common and popular feature of every organization‘s workforce, which seeks to protect ―the rights and interest of labour (employees) from arbitrary economic exploitation and the abuse of dignity of labour by the management (employers)‖ (Otobo, 1986).