ILO In Canada

The changes brought up labor unions in the United States over recent history has brought about a movement. This specific movement has shaped the way that employees and workers are treated in the workforce,and how they maintain their quality of life through this employment. Many people think that the labor unions’ influence has created a power struggle between management and union leaders. In many cases this can be considered true, as there have been countless feuds between management teams and labor unions, especially in recent history. In today’s times, on the one hand, some people believe the existence of unions are a necessity in order to ensure and promote employee freedom; while on the other hand some people view labor unions as just another problem in the line of employee success.

One of the positive aspects of unions in America is their ability to improve the working conditions of most American workers. During the Industrial Revolution, working conditions for employees became

Title: Unions have played a significant role in workforce history, have they outlived their purpose.

WWI/Interwar Years Essay World War 1 and the Inter-war periods are events that molded Canada into what it is today. While these events were drastically different they both impacted Canada greatly. The social, political and economic transformation that the Interwar Period has had on Canada overwhelms the outcomes of WW1, despite both being significant. World War 1 helped Canada solidify Canadian independence apart from the British Empire with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. However, Canadian independence truly developed after WW1 with the modern labour movement, economic stability, and the development of women's rights.

“Unions are no longer beneficial in our society because today we have so many laws protecting the rights of workers. In the 19th and early 20th century the workers of America had virtually no rights and were unable to improve their work conditions, salary, etc. With the arrival of unions, the state of the common laborer greatly improved. But today, with so many laws ensuring the rights of employees, unions are doing more harm than good. For example, many analysts believe that union's demand for so many raises and benefits for the auto industry workers has driven it into the ground, so they are no longer able to compete with other countries.” (Nett, 2014).

Using the concepts of “industrial” and “postindustrial” societies: How has work changed in Canada over time? (pg20,24)

The labor union movement over the years has shaped the way individuals work and live for both the nicest and unpleasant. Some would think the unions influence has created a power struggle between management and union leaders. In today’s time, some citizens insist the existence of unions are a must to aid in employee freedom, while others view the labor unions as just another problem in the line of progress. The purpose of labor unions was for employed workers to come together and collectively agree on fundamental workplace objectives. The rise of the union came about after the Civil War- responding to the industrial economy. Surprisingly at the least unions became popular within the 1930-50’s and began to slowly decrease,

Employers initially resisted unions as they were seen as a ‘tool of worker power’, and some countries even banned the groups all together (Baoill 2011). Although these restraints have been lifted, restrictions and guidelines have been put in place by government bodies to govern union activity; and employees internationally have the right to form unions (Baoill 2011).

Consideration for economic context is essential for work and learning. Companies, such as public, not for profit, privately operated/owned etc., have the ability to move unaccounted for resources across borders, attain cheap labour by outsourcing and create off-shore accounts to avoid taxes all of which impact work and learning. The Canadian economy is one derived of many variables. Employers creating workplaces by outsourcing their labour, moving resources that are unaccounted for or by creating accounts to avoid taxes are in business to have the lowest expenses and the most profit. These employers are prepared to do what it takes at whatever cost. The community in which I live consisted of several factories. These factories operated for many years employing many people in this community. Over the last 15 years most of these factories shut down and relocated to various other countries, obtaining cheap labour and new ways of distribution, leaving

What is the role of management and unions in society today? How has this changed in the last 100 years?

The rise of capitalism as the dominant economic system in the United States made the rise of unions inevitable; given the natural division between those with capital that control the means of production, and labor, who is treated simply as another factor of production (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008). While labor unions have made significant improvements to the working environment, with the regulation of safety, environment, labor and wage; labor unions have also contributed to the decline of U.S. dominance in industries like steel, automotive, education and airlines. In today’s global economy, can labor unions continue to be a force for good in the United States, or have they become harmful institutions?

     Besides a relatively non-competitive business environment, Canada?s labour force also lacks the competitive mindset. Structural employment remains high, which is partly due to the existence of social assistance and unemployment insurance systems. Work incentives are low under the protection of the employment insurance program, which indirectly contributes in a higher than the desirable unemployment rate. Furthermore, unions and other similar groups do not promote many incentives for workers to stay competitive in the workplace by continuously learning and improving productivity. Countries that have been most successful in cutting unemployment are those that have improved

The International Labor Organization (ILO) is the international organization responsible for overseeing international labor standards. The ILO gives an equal voice to workers, employers and governments to ensure that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in labor standards and in shaping policies. According to ILO, there are more than 215 million child workers in the world today, many of them in hazardous environments doing back-breaking work. Millions are forced into slavery or exploited in drug trafficking and prostitution. Most of these children do not attend school or receive the most basic nutrition or medical care that all children deserve (ILO.com, 2012).

With globalization,many changes have been brought up in the workplaces that are leading towards more flexibility and enrollment of the employees (Tong Fay and Anil Verma,2002). “According to a survey -unionized workers across Canada earned$5- 28/hour more than non-union workers; Women with unions earned more too and got paid more fairly (Why unions? ,2015)”. Thus ,it gives us an idea what changes are being brought about by the unions in comparison to non-union when it comes to the wage sector. The union workplaces give a chance to the members to bargain for their benefits which includes not only social well being but also the say,the right to speak up about their own views therefore giving them the chance to talk about their problems. The union have been progressed to give a fair wage

Globalization can be seen as a major threat for manufacturing jobs in the developed world, however, can also be a benefit for developing world citizens who receive thousands of jobs a year although they don’t receive a high salary. Maurice Allais, a French economist states that this unemployment, of course, has only been able to develop because of the existence of low salaries and insufficient flexibility in the labor market (April 10th, 1999). This indicates that globalization has jeopardized Western countries jobs because companies are moving their establishments to developing countries where they don’t need to pay employees as much and where land is cheaper so overall businesses benefit from this. Also, employees in the developed world are at risk of becoming redundant as they are susceptible to face pay cuts in jobs. Employees are less skilled in the developing world as they don’t receive the benefit of an education like developed countries do. So a company may want to build factories in these countries because environmental laws aren’t as strict. Establishments in these areas provides promising jobs for the local people and allows them to learn new skills, however they are set on minimum wage which in developed world countries, this would not be enough to live on, wherein third world countries this is still a low amount so this is not enough to bring them out of poverty meaning that the only one who benefits from this is the company. Although there have been several arguments against exploitation and oppression, the majority of developing countries do not have existing laws which take minimum wage