Assignment Instructions (Instructions must be followed)

Need to respond to the student’s forum posting (not as a teacher) but provide comments (what you like and agree on in regards to their posting) and also provide additional insight and ask questions either throughout the response or at the end that would help in initiating feedback. Please note the sources must be current sources and Wikipedia and anonymous sources do not count as a source. One of the sources that must be utilized is from the textbook for this course Dias, L.P. (2012). Human resource management. Flatworld Knowledge. **Please note that since this is a response back to a student title page is not required, just need to have the response along with references used**

Posting of Student Responding To:

I am on the border when it comes to Unions today. There are two sides to how relevant Unions are now. According to unionplus.org Unions in the United States are just a important as they have been in the past. A lot of employers now don’t want to hire employees that need healthcare, normal work hours, and feel that safety on the job site are important. Instead of hiring good employees they are finding ways to down size, use sub contractors and send jobs to different countries. Working for the union prevents this from happening to the employee. (Union Plus, n.d.)

In an article on The Heritage Group’s page it states that unions are declining because they treat their employees all the same no matter how hard they may work, and that they ignore each individual effort made by each employee. That is to blame as to why the membership of Unions is becoming less and less. (Sherk, J., 2008)

Current union goals in the United States are to raise the living standard for working class employees, make sure those employees are working in safe conditions, and make sure they have benefits and are working towards better benefits for the employees. (Union Plus, n.d.)

While union members may not feel appreciated for their individual effort most of them still make more money than a non union member. A lot of them now work in the government instead of an assembly line, and most union members are happy with where they are. (Sherk, J., 2008)

The ramifications of HR functions are the issues that can arise in regards to labor laws, payroll, and employee grievances. Unions have to make sure that they have someone in house with expertise in handing any type of labor issues that may arise. The HR staff has to make sure they are paying the union members correctly and that the union dues are coming out at the correct time and for the correct amount. Any employee grievances have to be dealt with correctly through HR and at the certain standard that is expected by the union. (Mayhew, R., n.d.)

Just as in any company there are positives and negatives to working in a union.

References

Union Plus. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://www.unionplus.org/about/labor-unions/today

Mayhew, R. (n.d.). What Challenges Do Unions Pose for Human Resource Management? Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/challenges-unions-pose-human-resource-management-7269.html

Sherk, J. (2008, April 1). Do Americans today still need labor unions? Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2008/04/do-americans-today-still-need-labor-unions