Trade Unions & Employment Law

1. Trade Unions & Employment Law GCSE Business Studies tutor2u™ Revision Presentations 2004

2. Trade Unions • Organisation that employees can join in order to have their interests and goals better represented • Categories • Craft of skills union - represent skilled workers e.g. Musicians Union (MU) • Industrial unions - represent members of one particular industry e.g. Fire Brigades Union (FBU) • General unions - unions which recruit workers from all types of industries and with any level or range of skills e.g. Amicus – Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (MSF) • White-collar unions - represent office workers e.g. National Union of Teachers (NUT)

3. Trades Union Congress (“TUC”) • Role: to represent all British trade unions at a national and international level • Tries to influence government decision making in best interests of unions and workers • Coordinates with trade union movements in other EU countries

4. Benefits of Union Membership • To an employee • More powerful voice when bargaining as a group (e.g. for pay rises) as can threaten industrial action such as strikes • Workers will have their individual rights better protected e.g. if dismissed unfairly or discriminated against • To an employer • Cheaper and quicker to bargain with one trade union representative than individual workers • Workers are better motivated if they feel their interests are being looked after by trade unions

5. Collective Bargaining • When one trade union representative negotiates with employers on behalf of all workers belonging to that trade union • Negotiations may involve areas such as pay, working conditions and fringe benefits.

6. Forms of Industrial Action • Strike • Work to rule • Boycott • Go slow • Overtime ban

7. Reasons for Declining Influence of Trade Unions • Laws passed which have weakened power of trade unions • Decline in trade union membership • Change in structure of industry from heavily unionised manufacturing industry towards service sector businesses • Change in philosophy from conflicts due to collective bargaining to individual bargaining between firms and employees

8. Employers’ Associations • Represents views and interests of companies within a certain industry • Act like a pressure group on government and also negotiate with trade unions. • Examples • Universities and Colleges Employers Association • Engineering Employer’s Federation

9. Main UK Employment Legislation • Equal Pay Act 1970 • Ruled that both sexes should be treated equally in terms of pay and other employment issues • Sex Discrimination Act 1975 • Made discrimination on grounds of sex or marital status illegal in all aspects of working life • Race Relations Act 1976 • Made discrimination on grounds of colour, race or nationality in terms of employment illegal • Disability Discrimination Act 1995 • Ruled that employers must treat a disabled person equally as others unless good reason • Working Time Regulations 1998 • EU legislation that set a limit on maximum umber of hours (48 hours) employees should be required to work in a week. Employees can choose to work more hours if they wish.

10. Minimum Wage • Legal minimum hourly wage rate that a business can pay an employee • Introduced into UK in 1999 • 2003 minimum wage for someone over 21 is £4-20 • Rate is subject to regular reviews and is likely to be increased every few years as cost of living increases

11. Businesses Most Affected by an Increase in Minimum Wage • Small businesses who find it harder to cope with increases in costs • Businesses which employ a large number of low-skilled workers • Examples: • Catering • Hotels • Leisure businesses