Blackwell Reference Online

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Unions are collections of workers who join together for the purpose of defending their common interests as employees. In capitalist societies, union representation provides many workers with their only potential for meaningful input in their workplaces. These workers benefit from unions because employers alone possess legal rights and authority over their property (both land and machinery), and therefore any single worker has limited bargaining power vis-à-vis an employer. In the unionized workplace, the hegemony of capital is manifested in a regime of production based on collective bargaining agreements, which are reinforced by the state. Still, capital's control over the workforce is never complete. Workers struggle and negotiate with employers over the terms of the regime. When workers organize into unions their representatives normally negotiate collective bargaining agreements with management, which codify the terms and conditions of the labor process. These agreements (or contracts) specify workers’ wages, hours, benefits, and seniority and grievance systems, whether or not workers may strike, and whether or not the union cedes managerial prerogatives for a specified period. The managerial prerogatives clause is especially important since it either does or does not give to management the right to hire, fire, discipline, plan production, and change production processes, etc. ... log in or subscribe to read full text