History and Role Of Trade Union - Free Essay Example

Trade unions 1. Brief history on trade union The history of the trade union can be seen to have begun in the Industrial Revolution, where the rise of factories and the deskilling of labour led to workers seeking security through collective bargaining agreements. However, these early efforts at unionisation were generally deemed to be illegal, and punished by imprisonment or transportation to the colonies, such as in the case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs (Webb and Webb, 1976, p. 23). However, in the nineteenth century many of the laws that prevented the formation of unions were repealed. As a result, trade unions grew rapidly, supported by the passage of further laws such as the 1906 Trade Disputes Act, which protected employees from being sued for going on strike, provided their strike was carried out by a trade union and met certain rules (Beckett, 2001, p. 22). Indeed, as of the present day, trade unions are the only accepted vehicle through which industrial action can occur. Role of trade union in the UK In spite of their important role in industrial action, this is not actually only an aspect of the trade unions major role, which is to engage in collective bargaining on behalf of its member. This is important in unskilled and semi skilled working environments, where individual employees might be unaware of market rates of pay, and thus not be able to bargain effectively. Ultimately, this has led to a degree of institutional separation between day to day working practices and the negotiation of wages (Employee Relations, 1990, p. 15). However it is important to also realise that another role of the trade union is to negotiate these working practices, including the length of shifts, holidays, sick pay and other practices. Finally, the trade union also plays a role in supporting its members if they feel they have been unfairly dismissed, or discriminated against. Here, the union employs legal experts who have knowledge of employment laws, and thus can ensure that employees are treated fairly, such as in the case of Roberts v West Coast Trains Ltd [2004] (BAILII, 2010). Practical (action relationship) The main practical actions that trade unions can take fall into two categories. The first is large scale practical actions by all members, including strikes and other coordinated industrial action. It should be noted that these actions are only triggered by a properly conducted ballot of union members, and hence can occur when the union members disagree with any action taken by management. For example, in 2009 the trade union Unite launched industrial action to prevent Total Oil Company using mainly overseas contractor at its Lindsey Oil Refinery, in spite of the Acas tribunal ruling that this use of contractors was not illegal (Gill, 2009, p. 29). As such, it can be argued that trade unions not only act when the written contract between managers and employees has been broken, but also when the psychological contract has been broken. The other main practical actions that trade unions take are for individual employees, including the legal assistance mentioned above, but also t he provision of services such as unemployment benefits, sick pay and even additional pension provision. Rights reference of trade union Trade unions give employees several important rights that they would not otherwise possess as individuals. First and foremost amongst these is the effective right to strike. Whilst no individual or trade union has the right to strike in the UK, striking is also not a criminal offence, it is a civil one (Goswami, 2007, p. 8). As such, if an individual chooses to strike, they would become liable for the losses sustained by their employer due to their strike action. However, if a trade union holds a properly conducted ballot, then their members are protected from liability for these actions, effectively giving them the right to strike. The other main right trade unions have is the right to collectively bargain on behalf of their members, thus negotiating a pay settlement for all members that can then be agreed on in a vote of the members. Trade unions may also have the right to legally represent their members in any dispute with the employer, although this will often depend on t he structure and laws of the union. Example of industrial disputes One recent dispute that is of interest is the case of British Airways and the trade union Unite. In this case, Unite called for strike action in response to the cost cutting program instituted by British Airways. This case is of interest due to its relation to the psychological contract. The psychological contract holds that employees will help the company make a profit, and in return managers will respect the employees and provide good working conditions (Gill, 2009, p. 29). However, in the case of BA, the company was making massive losses. This indicates that Unite was not interested in the companys financial problems, and was instead more focused on maintaining its relevance, and the social contract it can be seen to hold with its members. Specifically, the social contract implies that employees will support the union when it calls for strike action, in exchange for receiving the support of the union in other areas (Peyrat-Guillard, 2008, p. 479). A similar example can be seen in the recent dispute between the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and London Underground. In this case, the union called for a strike claiming that cuts would compromise passenger safety, even though they would not result in any salary cuts or compulsory redundancies (BBC News, 2010). Relevance and importance of trade union The relevance and importance of trade unions depends strongly on which analytical perspective is employed. A labour process theory perspective indicates that trade unions play a vital role in defending workers rights in the face of the relentless growth of global capitalism and neo liberalist economics (Braverman, 1974, p. 8). This argument holds that as the owners of capital and their agents, the managers, obtain more control over the working process through mechanisation, so workers will be more vulnerable to exploitation. As such, trade unions need to ensure that their efforts to defend their workers match the efforts of managers looking to undermine them. According to this viewpoint, the RMTs actions in the recent Underground strike were fully justified, as if they failed to act the managers would succeed in removing 800 employees, thus increasing managements ability to exploit the remaining workers. In contrast, a post structuralist view of the issue indicates that the s trike is more likely to be a product of the union attempting to maintain its own power, partly by opposing anything that might allow power to shift towards managers in the future, and partly by maintaining its relevance in the eyes of employees (Foucault, 2003, p. 6). The post structuralist view thus holds that unions are not particularly relevant or important in a modern capitalist society, and are in fact acting more to maintain their own power than to actually perform their role in society. Size and components (hierarchy) of the trade union Trade unions range in size from smaller specialist unions such as the British Orthoptic Society Trade Union, with a membership of just over a thousand (TUC, 2010), to the massive International Trade Union Confederation, which is a federation of 301 affiliated trade unions, with a total membership of 176 million workers (ITUC, 2010). There are also smaller unions each representing individual workplaces. In general, the structure of most unions will be set up to allow them to operate as an artificial legal entity. This helps them to carry out negotiations on behalf of its members, as well as ensuring that it can represent its members in the event of any individual disputes. Unions are also mandated by local laws to have a democratic structure and elected leadership in order to ensure that any strike action they take is legal. This is an important aspect of a trade union, as workers themselves do not have an implicit right to strike, they only have protection from legal action i f a strike is organised by a union in a properly conducted ballot of members (Goswami, 2007, p. 8). Conclusion In conclusion, trade unions still tend to play an important role in protecting workers and helping them enforce their legal rights, particularly in cases when these rights may be uncertain or under debate. Unions will also be able to support employees when they feel that the psychological contract between workers and managers is being breached, and can help workers to renegotiate this contract if necessary. Unfortunately, a post structuralist view of the trade unions indicates that the unions tend to be more responsive to their own social contract with the workers, than to the actual needs and demands of the workplace itself. This can lead to unions behaving in overly militant ways, particularly when they feel their own power and relevance is being threatened. References 1. BAILII (2010) British and Irish Legal Information Institute. https://www.bailii.org/ Accessed 9th September 2010. 2. BBC News (2010) London Underground strike causes severe disruption. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11209522 Accessed 9th September 2010. 3. Beckett, F. (2001) Bring back the right to strike. New Statesman; Vol. 130, Issue 4528, p. 22. 4. Braverman, H. (1974) Labor and Monopoly Capital. New York, Free Press 5. Employee Relations (1990) Institutional Separation. Employee Relations; Vol. 12, Issue 5, p. 15-17. 6. Foucault, M. (2003) Society Must be Defended. New York: Picador. 7. Gill, C. (2009) How Unions Impact on the State of the Psychological Contract to Facilitate the adoption of New Work Practices (NWP). New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations; Vol. 34, Issue 2, p. 29-43. 8. Goswami, N. (2007) UK Govt declares in ECJ that strike actions be curtailed. Lawyer; Vol. 21, Issue 2, p. 8. 9. Peyrat-Guillard, D. (2008) Union Discourse and Percei ved Violation of Contract: A Social Contract-Based Approach. Industrial Relations; Vol. 63, Issue 3, p. 479-501 10. TUC (2010) Britains unions. Trades Union Congress. https://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/unions_main.cfm Accessed 9th September 2010. 11. Webb, S. and Webb, B. (1976) History of Trade Unionism. New York: AMS Press.

Lesson Plan - 1925 Words

Lesson Plan (Coursework Sample) Content: Lesson Plan for Teaching English as a Second Language Name Name of institution Name of tutor Date of submission Lesson Plan for Teaching English as a Second Language Introduction The title of the course will be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"English as a Second Language'. The course features the Adult Migrant English Program. Facilitation of the course will take place at TAFE. The classroom setting as per the resources available will be most suitable in the morning sessions. In addition, the principal Stake holders of the course are the students of TAFE and the institution. The main attributes of the students are that they have diverse cultures since they are new in Australia with backgrounds from different Diasporas. The students are of mixed gender with 20 students between 18 to 50 years of age. The students Proficiency is the intermediate level. The Students are mainly from Afghanistan, Spain, China, Iran, South America, India and other backgrounds. The main goal of the course is developing communication and demonstrating it in real life situations. The purpose is to develop conversational skills in the context of topics that attribute different functions in daily activities. Examples include conversation with a health practitioner, job interviews and shopping. Learners will be able to learn and utilize skills in listening and speaking particularly for the purpose of obtaining information and expressing personal feelings and opinions.The course involves a 10 week program whereby meetings will be once per week for a total to 15 hours. The outline of the meetings for the ten weeks are; week 1: personal identification week 2,3 :family life week 4,5: housing week 6: community and neighbourhood (local stores) week 7: communication (Telephone, Mail, E-mail) week 8,9,10: private and public services (health system, customs, banking). Annotated BibliographyGrapes, K. (2000). Designing a Language Course: A Guide for Teachers. Boston: Heine and Heine Press.The Authors, editors, researchers and the Heine and Heine Research Panel at the Heine and Heine Printing Press. They tend to use information from national surveys of practising teachers to test the hypothesis that the designing of a language is fundamentally dependent on the teaching context and the student's needs. The hypothesis is well grounded in more experienced teachers' more than new teachers who have joined the profession. The effects of increasing the time of contact with the students revealed to have a positive change to designing of the teaching activities. The studies thus coincide with other studies that reveal that the context that the teacher is in, and the needs of the students influence the design of teaching.Heiner, B. (2004). Language Assessment. New York: Pearson Educational Inc.The authors and researchers of Pearson Educational Incorporation t end to obtain their information and data from longitudinal researchers that conducted both locally in New York and nationally. Consequently, the data is used to test the hypothesis that the assessment of language is a significant activity in determining good teaching design. The argument is on the results that different teachers obtain from using different teaching designs. The findings are that teachers should negotiate with their students in order to have a teaching design based on the students' goals, so as to produce a more results oriented plan for both the students and the teacher. This text would be sufficient for typically every setting.Nunan. (2004). Task Based Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.The author and the researchers in the Cambridge University Press use national surveys that include questionnaires that are supplemented with personal and telephone interviews to obtain data and information. The baseline is to test the hypothesis that task based teaching of language is the best approach to use while teaching students. The research involves adult students who are learning the language particularly as a second language and the younger students learning the language from a firsthand position. The research's findings are that the adults are best suited to the method although the younger students also perform better when the method. The ideas from this research particularly influenced the choice of tasks to involve the student groups into in my activity plan template. The research leads every teacher to take note to enhance activity-oriented learning in making the learning experience exciting and engraving ideas into the mind.Scrivener, J. (2002). Learning How to Teacher: A Guidebook for English Language Teachers. Shanghai: shanghai foreign language press.The author and the research group in Shanghai Foreign Language Press concentrate on carrying out a longitudinal research nationally in Thailand to test the hypothesis that a l esson's quality is significantly dependent on how well a teacher propagates the lesson as per the lesson plan and design. The research is carried out in various educational institutions such as primary schools, secondary institutions and tertiary institutions. The findings are that there are different designs given the level of learning. The book contributed tremendously in the pointing out of teacher and student activities as well as supporting learning materials so as to increase the efficiency on the students' part. Therefore, the book provides the best guidelines for every institution. It is important how this research discovers the particular designs as applicable to each and every level of learning.Yule, T. O. (1990). Language and Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. London: Oxford University Press.The authors and researchers at Oxford University carry nationally extensive surveys that correspond with other international surveys carried all over the world in th eir branches. The results are used to test the hypothesis that the amount a teacher knowledge before establishing his particular teaching strategy. The strategy will determine the performance of the students and how successful the course is comprehended. The survey was carried out in educational institutes in practising teachers' strategies and their students' performance. The findings were that the knowledge of what and how each lesson is propagated is directly proportional to the efficiency of the course both in time and performance. This reference was of significance in the identification and establishment teaching strategies in the planning journal. The book is essential for every teacher. However, it may not be of substantial value to new teachers whose knowledge of student response could be minimal. ACTIVITY PLAN TEMPLATE SOL8004 PROCEDURE for ACTIVITY ACTIVITY TEACHER (T) STUDENT (Ss) TIME RESOURCES /MATERIALS Activity goals(s)and Outcomes: To prepare students to work in groups Improve conversational English in social life, learning language and students information gathering, 1 Introduction Welcome the students introduce the topic to be learnt during the session. Give the outline; explain the purpose of the activities. Listen 3min Whiteboard, markers 2 Step by step description of the activity and transition 1) Ask the students about their knowledge of the rental system in Australia and compare it with the systems of their home country. 2) Introduce three major concepts of the rental system. 3)Ask the class to work in groups of three and give Ss copy of the rental house advert from internet 4) Hand out the first page of the rental house application sample to Ss and ask them to fill out. Ask the question Ask the question ,explain the three concepts in the topic Give instructions, observe proceed by giving examples and ask for handing back of reports Give instructions, examples and observe. Listen, answer the question. Answer the question Work in groups, communicate in English, Ss use spoken English, report back Work individually ,Ss use written English 2min 3min 6min 6min White board, markers Copy of the rental house advertisement from the internet The copy of the rental house application form from the agent Break Give instruction Students listen 5min 3 1 Introduce the role play activity and familiarise the students to the activity through giving them authentic listening examples. Give information about the role play activity ,give instructions and observe the class during the listening activity Listen to the model of the conversation between a native speaker and an agent inquiring about the accommodation option. 5 I pad, tape or mobile to record the conversation 2) Provide free practice. Prepare the class for pair work. Students will be given a number of newspaper advertisements of renting accommodation pertaining different kinds. Examples include house, apartment, and studio apartments' advertisements. Give instructions, observe and guides Students during their practice. Listen to the given instructions, read the given samples of rental accommodation advertisements and practice the role play activity with their partners. 10min Newspaper advertisement for renting accommodation. 3) role play activity Teacher asks for feedback from a few groups. Observe s the activity and assess the students speaking and listening ability for future references then give feedback. Students to play the part of potential tenants. Make a note of needs and then call rental agent .Student B plays the part of a rental agent. Use ads to offer partner suitable accommodation, according to the previous practice. The other ...