Rev Father A. Maximiadis
The Trade Union Movement has, since the late 18th and early 19th centuries brought many benefits to the proletariat. Some of which include: raising the living standards, just wages and working conditions, pensions, unemployment compensation, safety regulations, vacations, education, maternity leave, grievance procedures; and the list goes on. These benefits that have helped the workers to gain economic control in their lives were not achieved without fierce opposition from employers and governments.
These benefits which the unions fought for are systematically being whittled away. Resulted from the decline of people employed in manufacturing occupations, and an increase in people employed in service occupations. Furthermore, exacerbated by the introduction of microelectronics into the industries, the influence of many new business corporations, and economic rationalism. These have changed the socio-economic environment that has adversely effected the power of the unions, in labour negotiations, for their members and others.
In this new environment, the unions’ powers to engage, on behalf of the proletariat, in collective agreements, has been radically diminished. The wage-earners, particularly those not fully au fait in matters relating to negotiations, industrial engineering, grievances, legal services, arbitration, economics et cetera; are now at the mercy of private enterprise bargaining. In this new economic setting, there must be a social and collective bargaining component to protect the rights of the workers. The majority of employers base their decisions solely on profit-driven interests, absent of ethical considerations towards the wage-earners and their families. The disablement of trade unions, particularly in a highly industrialized society, to represent the wage-earners, in collective bargaining, is ruthlessly exploitative, and tantamount to authoritarianism.
These views may not be consistent with those of the unions. Therefore, it is suggested you visit union websites in your area to obtain more accurate, and up-to-date information from the unions themselves.