MGT434 - Global Union Climate
...ining on a global scale allows unions to have a reach that is unprecedented. Locally in the Detroit area it is evident in the auto industry and the collective bargaining power of the UAW and CAW. In the last several years they have been using each other as tools for the contract bargaining table. The report, which reviewed more than a thousand studies on the effects of unions and collective bargaining, finds that bargaining coordination between workers’ and employers’ organizations in wages and other aspects of employment, for example working conditions, has a Global effect on the economy. The continuation of these efforts to create a global union will help companies come into line with regulations and initiatives such as affirmative action and equal pay for equal work. Unions Promote Fairness in Wages Other findings of the report state union membership reduces wage differences between skilled and unskilled workers and also between men and women. In some countries such as Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, unionized women workers have a greater pay advantage over their non-unionized counterparts than unionized men. (Hey, 2003) In the United States and the United Kingdom, unionized non-white workers tend to get a higher wage markup than white workers, although the U.S. evidence is mixed. This may or may not be attributable to affirmative action agendas. Wage issues continue to be a very large problem in the global economy, but if the trend continues towards global unionization there will be more equality in the future. Countries that have embraced these trends show that they have lower earning inequity, as well as better coordination with the labor market. What is driving the trends? One of the driving forces behind the current interest in labor standards around the world is the rapid expansion of international trade. As globalization proceeds, differences in labor standards between countries and regions become more important than they used to be. There is a concern that these differences could produce unfair advantages in internationally traded goods for countries that adopt lower standards, and also because new technology now allows jobs to be directly subcontracted to wor...