What Unions Do

It is fairly obvious to realise from the very title of the article, that what trade unions actually do is a fairly uncertain, and there is no agreed consensus of opinion. There are two points of view regarding the aims and actions of trade unions. Firstly, there are many economists who view unions largely as monopolies in the labour market whose main economic impact is to raise its’ members wages at the expense of those who are not part of some organised labour effort. These analysts tend to be against trade unions in general because of their adverse effects of union work rules on productivity and the loss of employment in the unorganised sector as a result of union wage effects. Some words used to describe trade unions by these people are; socially unresponsive, elitist, non-democratic and crime-riddled institutions.

The other point of view comes from those who believe unions have beneficial effects on both the economy and the larger political picture. Industrial relations e...