INTRODUCTION

The existence of a strong and recognized trade union is a prerequisite to industrial peace.
Decisions taken through the process of collective bargaining and negotiations between
employer and unions are more influential. Trade unions play an important role and are helpful
in effective communication between the workers and the management. They provide the advice
and support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major conflicts. The
central function of a trade union is to represent people at work. But they also have a wider role
in protecting their interests. They also play an important role in organizing courses for their
members on a wide range of matters. Seeking a healthy and safe working environment is also
prominent feature of the trade union.

IMPORTANCE OF TRADE UNIONS – WORKERS PERSPECTIVE:

 Trade Unions are workers’ tool for collective bargaining. Industries with trade unions
always have higher wage structures. Trade Unions negotiate with employers for better
terms and conditions of employment and for healthy workplace standards.
 Trade Unions strengthen workers’ demand for better labour and industrial legislation.
The ability of unions to represent workers and their families stand as an asset, for which
political parties try to woo them by offering better deals in terms of pro-labour
legislation. Better medical facilities, welfare schemes, annual leave, insurance and other
benefits are the results.
 Trade unions can ensure more job security for its members than non-unionized,
unorganized workers.
 Unions provide legal support to workers when they face police action and legal tangles.
 Factories with union activity are safer when it comes to chance for industrial accidents.
Unions pressurize employers to ensure better safety standards and use their influence
with law enforcement agencies to assure better safety measures at workplace.
 Trade unions protect workers against physical and mental torture and exploitation of
superiors at workplace.
 Workers’ individual rights and liberties are better protected by trade unions. It protects
women employees against sexual harassment.
 Trade Unions in advanced countries often provide educational support and training for
skill up-gradation.
 Trade unions can negotiate with management for mutual give and take in matters of
increased productivity. When there is higher demand of production trade unions can
negotiate better remuneration, so that both workers and managements benefited.
 Since trade unions protect their interests, workers can remain motivated and their
economic, social, political well-being are taken care of.

IMPORTANCE OF TRADE UNIONS – PRODUCTIVITY

PERSPECTIVE:
 Willing to or for the development of the organization: Willing to work for the sake
of the organization which will increase productivity.
  Guide the employees to right path: Guide the employees to the right path that
increases productivity. This is one of the most important role of trade union leaders for
increasing productivity.
 Develop a culture that boost productivity: Develop a culture of good working
environment that will help to boost up productivity.
 Work to fill up demands: Work to fill up the necessary demands of the employees
which indirectly encourage employees to increase productivity.
 Maintain good relationship: Maintain good relationship between employees and Top
level management, which works as a driving force to increasing productivity.
 Avoid bad practice: Avoid bad practice at the working level that harm the environment
to increase
 Encourage workers: Union leaders can encourage the efficient workers for their work.
 Discourage inefficient workers: Discourage the inefficient workers and make their
work efficiently.
 Role as a real leader: Act as a real leader to work for achieving the objective of the
organization. And also acts as a guardian of the employees to bargain for the sake of
the employees which ultimately results in increasing productivity as the employees
begin to work more effectively than before.

OBJECTIVES AND NEED OF TRADE UNIONS:

Unions concentrate their attention to achieve the following objectives:

(A) Wages and Salaries: The subject which drew the major attention of the trade
unions are wages and salaries. This item may be related to policy matters. However, differences
may arise in the process of their implementation. In the case of unorganised Senior the trade
union plays a crucial role in bargaining the pay scales.

(B) Working Conditions: Trade unions with a view to safeguard the health of workers
demand the management to provide all the basic facilities such as lighting and ventilation,
sanitation, rest rooms, safety equipment while discharging hazardous duties, drinking water,
refreshment, minimum working hours, leave and rest, holidays with pay, job satisfaction, social
security benefits and other welfare measures.

(C) Personnel Policies: Trade unions may fight against improper implementation of
personnel policies in respect of recruitment, selection, promotions, transfers, training, etc.

(D) Discipline: Trade unions not only conduct negotiations in respect of the items with
which their working conditions may be improved but also protect the workers from the clutches
of management whenever workers become the victims of management's unilateral acts and
disciplinary policies. This victimisation may take the form of penal transfers, suspensions,
dismissals etc. In such a situation the separated worker who is left in a helpless condition may
approach the trade union. Ultimately, the problem may be brought to the notice of management
by the trade union, which explains about the injustice meted out to an individual worker and
fights the management for justice. Thus, the victimised worker may be protected by the trade
union.
 (E) Welfare: As stated earlier, trade unions are meant for the welfare of workers. Trade
union works as a guide, consulting authority and cooperates inn overcoming the personal
problems of workers. It may bring to the notice of management, through collective bargaining
meetings the difficulties of workers in respect of sanitation, hospitals, quarters, schools and
colleges for their children's cultural and social problems.

(F) Employee-Employer Relations: Harmonious relations between the employees and

employer are very important for industrial peace. A trade union always strives for achieving
this objective. However, the bureaucratic attitude and unilateral thinking of management may
lead to conflicts in the organisation which, ultimately, disrupt the relations between the workers
and the management. Trade union, being the representative of all the workers, may carry out
continuous negotiations with the management with a view to promoting industrial peace.

(G) Negotiating Machinery: Negotiations include the proposals made by one party
and the counterproposals of the other. This process continues until the parties reach an
agreement. Thus, negotiations are based on the give and take' principle. Trade union, being a
party for negotiations, protects the interests of workers through collective bargaining. Thus,
the trade union works as the negotiating machinery.

(H) Safeguarding Organisational Health and the Interest of the Industry:

Organisational health can be diagnosed by methods evolved for grievance redressal and
techniques adopted to reduce the rate of absenteeism and labour turnover and to improve the
employee relations. Trade union by their effective working may achieve employee satisfaction.
Therefore, trade unions help in reducing the rate of absenteeism, labour turnover and
developing systematic grievance settlement procedures leading to harmonious industrial
relations. Trade unions can thus contribute to the improvements in level of production,
productivity and discipline thereby improving quality of work-life.

NEED FOR TRADE UNIONS

Why do workers organize themselves into a trade union? It is however, a significant
question. The worker joins a trade union for a variety of reasons, but he may be no more
conscious of the motive or motives that prompt him to join a union. The trade unions are the
organizations formed by working male and female workers both to improve the conditions of
labour and to further to attain better life.

(i) The individual workers all alone feels especially weak in a world of mass production
and mass movement. An organization may give him an opportunity to join others for the
achievement of those objectives that he considers as socially desirable.

(ii) The basic purpose of trade union is to safeguard the economic interests of its
members. One of the problems in the life of the workers is how to provide sufficient food,
clothing and a home for himself and for the members of his family. This is first and foremost
a question of finding a job on a reasonable wage. To improve and maintain the wage at a
reasonable standard is one of the primary reasons for which a worker joins a trade union.
 (iii) A worker does not only require the bare necessaries of existence but he also wants
to obtain the amenities of civilized life, e.g., a better home, more leisure, better conditions of
work, etc. The workers also join the trade unions, to a very large extent, because they have
interests such as these to promote or defend.

(iv) The need for trade unions arises due to this fact also that the workers require help
in time of sickness or death, protection from suffering and want when they are not of a job and
an income of some kind when they are too old to work anymore.

(v) There is aesthetic reason for the existence of trade unions, viz., need for adequate
machinery for settling the relations between the employers and employees. In modern industry
the old personal relationship between the employers and the workers largely disappears. The
worker may become dissatisfied with his working conditions or the treatment of his employers
while the employer may feel that he has reason for complaint against the workers. With the
growth to industry the number of such questions to be settled increases and it is much better to
adjust these differences by agreement between the employers and employees through
negotiations. Thus, a trade union is the best and socially most desirable to conduct bargaining
on behalf of the workers and the development of collective bargaining between the employers'
and workers' organizations is an essential basis for the establishment of peace in industry.

(vi) Trade unions developed on proper lines lessens violent class conflicts and, thus, is
beneficial to employers, the employees, the state and the public. It is, thus, clear that no agency
formed or promoted to look after the interests of the workers can be a real substitute for trade
unions. The organization of workers is, therefore, not only necessary but also inevitable.

VIBRANT TRADE UNIONS IN INDIA:

At present, there are a number of trade unions but six major central trade unions each having a
membership of over 5 lakhs had all India character of trade unions. They are:
(1) The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC):

In May 1947 INTUC was formed by the Congress Party and the top congress leaders like Mr.
Nehru and Patel were associated with it.

The objectives of the union are to adopt peaceful means for the settlement of labour disputes.
The Government of India declared this union in 1948 as the most representative union in the
country. It represented Indian labour organisations at the International Labour Organisation
meets right upto 1978. But the Government of India has broken this monopoly and nominated
a member of the Hind Mazdoor Sangh to represent the working class at the world labour meet
at Geneva on June 3, 1979.

Every union affiliated to INTUC has to submit its dispute to arbitration after exhausting other
means of settlement of disputes. It has strong roots in West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Bihar. It has large number of members from textiles, tea, jute, transport and
mining industries.
(2) The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC):

This union came into existence in 1920 mainly on the pattern of the British Trade Unions. It
serves as the labour forum of Communist party of India at present. It is considered as the second
largest union in India. It is very strong in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh
and Punjab.
(3) The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS):
This union was formed as an affiliate to Bhartiya Jan Sangh Party. During the last couple of
years its membership has gone up. This gives it the third position and the H.M.S. has been
pushed down the fourth position.
(4) The Hind Mazdoor Sangh (H.M.S.):

It was formed in December 1981 in Calcutta by the socialists who neither approved INTUC
nor A1TUC. The HMS was organised with a view to keeping its members free from any
political or other outside interference. Its members are generally from industries like railways,
cotton textiles, coal mining, engineering and post and telegraph department. The Praja Socialist
party and Samyuktha Socialist party dominated this union. These parties became constituents
of the Janta Party.
(5) The United Trade Union Congress (UTUC):

It was formed on 30th April 1949 by those persons who were dissident socialists. It functions
mainly in Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. Its political affiliations are with left-
wing parties.
(6) The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU):
It was formed in 1970. It has 2,231 affiliated unions having 1 1, 12,328 members.

RECOGNITION OF UNIONS:
Code for discipline in industry (became effective from June 1, 1958) lays down criteria for
recognition of unions. The criteria given in the Code is (a) union should function for at least
one year after registration if there is more than one union. Where there is only one union, this
condition will not apply (b) it must have at least 15% of the workers as its members (c) a union
may be recognised as a representative union for an industry if it has a membership of at least
25% of workers (d) if there are more than one unions in an industry, the one with the largest
membership should be recognised (e) only unions which observed the Code of Discipline
would be entitled to recognition.
LITERATURE REVIEW

CREATING AND MAINTAINING A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

Fick Barbara, Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School (2009) states that Trade
unions are generally studied from the perspective of their role in organizing and representing
workers in the workplace. The main focus is on the triadic relationship among workers, trade
unions and employers. Such a narrow focus overlooks the key role of trade unions as the
quintessential civil society organization. In this latter role trade union influence extends beyond
the confines of the workplace and impacts upon society as a whole, making a key contribution
in creating, maintaining and rebuilding democratic societies.

IN REGULATING LABOR RELATIONS

Cristina B ĂLĂNEASA and Aurel MANOLESCU state that the most important concern of
trade union is direct communication between management and employees and the loyalty and
responsibility employees show towards the company. Trade unions reason for being is to re-
establish the balance of power between employers and employees. High quality industrial
relations are a key element in managing economic change and reducing its costs, helping
workers and companies adapt to change while protecting them from transitory shocks. Good
relations between workers and employers produce positive economic and social effects, both
in times of slowing economic growth. A structured dialogue between workers and employers
representatives can help the nation face the economic crisis. Policies on working conditions
and training and labour market policy cannot remain the sole responsibility of the state, unions
and employers play an important role in this sense.

EQUALITY REPRESENTATIVES IN BRITAIN

Nicolas Bacon, Kim Hoque found that, trade unions have had a significant impact in the
promotion of fair treatment at work, and in advancing the interests of disadvantaged workers.
Studies have shown that equal opportunities practices are more likely to have been adopted in
unionised than non-union workplaces, and outcomes such as pay rates have been found to be
more equitable in unionised workplaces than elsewhere. Acknowledging the potential for
unions to influence equality practices positively, the previous Labour government in Britain
identified a role for the union movement in contributing towards delivery of the extension of
equality legislation in the areas of flexible working, disability, age, sexual orientation, and
religion and belief. It also took some tentative steps to further develop the capacity of unions
to promote greater fairness and equality at work.

A particular union initiative the previous government supported financially was the Trades
Union Congress's (TUC) equality representative initiative. The Union Modernisation Fund
financed 8 union-led projects to recruit and train 500 union equality reps by mid-2009. Equality
reps were a new type of union activist appointed or elected from existing employees or reps in
unionised workplaces. Their role is to help promote equality and fairness at work by
encouraging employers to improve equality policies and practices, offering independent advice
and guidance on equality issues to employees, and raising the profile of the equality agenda
within their unions.

TRADE UNIONS IN INDIA: CHANGING ROLE & PERSPECTIVE

J.S Sodhi says that Unions in India are today as relevant as they were in the early part of the
last century. The contours of challenges are different and come about due to the internal set of
issues of trade unions as well as the globalization policies of the government. Internally, unions
are not a united force and have been divided on political lines. A section of workers as well as
the managements do not see them as useful in view of their inability to protect worker's rights
and lack of initiative in enhancing economic performance of the companies. Globalization
policies have led to outsourcing and emergence of atypical forms of employment in the form
of contract and casual workers even in the formal sector. Such workers have little security of
job and are paid half or less than half compared to the permanent workers doing the same or
similar job in an enterprise. The government has also set up export promotion zones where
labour rights exist only on paper. Also, it has allowed companies to pursue voluntary retirement
schemes under which a large number of permanent workers have been retrenched. As a result,
the formal sector employment has declined over the years. This is coupled with the lack of
social protection, safety net and the required skills of the workers to attain gainful employment.

The way forward for unions is to adopt a common minimum agenda acceptable to all the
unions. The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) provides an example of forming an
umbrella organization of all the unions. NTUC in Singapore works with the government and is
engaged in training for gainful employment besides a host of other activities. Specifically, the
unions need to continue to deal with the newer issues of atypical employment and others
created by the globalization process. It is, however, equally relevant that unions take up other
development activities at the macro and the enterprise level. The Government too needs to play
a catalytic role to increase the scope of union's involvement through institutional forums of
social dialogue. It also needs to be vigilant on the labour law violations.

DO UNIONS INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

But when conservative corporate law blogger Steven Bainbridge avers that, at the very least,
unions do not decrease productivity, one must take the argument seriously. To be sure, unions
often do very good work. New York's Local 3 (electricians) is widely known for the slow pace
at which union jobs proceed, but also for the extremely high quality of their installations. This
is not inconsistent with economic theory. Union electricians get paid more to do the same
work, which predicts that they will get more skilled workers than non-union shops, and the
workers will be keener to keep their jobs. Plus the union, eager to prove that there is some sort
of value proposition to employing their workers, enforces a higher standard on its members.
The economic logic suggests that unions will only keep productivity high so long as they are a
relatively small portion of the workforce. One of the reasons that Local 3 does such a good job
is that New York's construction trades work on an ad-hoc basis; even though their tenure in the
union is permanent, their tenure with an employer lasts only until the building is completed or
the rewiring done. If they want to be hired for the next job, they had better do good wiring on
this one. There is also an excess supply of union members over available work, which gives
the least competent room to sink out of the labour pool, as well as forcing them to compete
with each other to hold the available jobs. This may explain why some unions are equally well
known for their lack of productivity; the American teachers' unions are generally believed (by
everyone outside of the teachers' unions) to be the primary obstacle to improving America's
appalling public schools.

Some thoughts on markets where unions will produce higher productivity:

 There are opportunities for deploying capital to replace low-skilled labour

 The union wage is higher than the average prevailing wage for the workers' cognitive
endowments and/or educational level
 There are significant transaction costs to finding and retaining labour, such as the
construction trades, where it is more efficient to call the union labour hall and tell them
to send over 50 guys than hire them individually
 The work easily lends itself to classification and regularisation
 Productivity is easily measured

THE FUNCTION OF TRADE UNIONS

K.D. Ewing says that Trade unions have a number of functions, some of which have been more
prominent than others at different periods in history. But over the course of time trade unions
have developed five principal functions. These are respectively: a service function; a
representation function; a regulatory function; a government function; and a public
administration function. On examining these different functions author argues that the balance
is shifting, with more emphasis being placed on service, governmental and public
administration functions. We are witnessing the emergence of a new ‘supply side trade
unionism’ with a corresponding dilution of their representative and regulatory functions. These
developments—engineered by governments of both parties in recent years—are assessed in the
context of the Warwick agreement in 2004 where the trade unions and the Labour Party
concluded a deal on the shape of a possible third term Labour government.

TRADE UNION AMBIVALENCE TOWARD ENFORCEMENT OF

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS AS AN ORGANIZING STRATEGY
Ingrid Landau and John Howe’s research has found that trade unions in Australia spend a
significant amount of their time monitoring and enforcing employer compliance with minimum
employment standards, and that they continue to regard the protection of members’ minimum
employment standards under law as an integral part of what they do. Indeed, for some unions,
this concern with protecting workers’ minimum employment standards extends well beyond
their membership.
Their research also demonstrates that the way in which this work is undertaken within unions,
and by whom, has changed significantly in recent decades, and that these changes reflect, and
have been driven by, a number of factors including changes to legislative frameworks and
union strategy. Consistent with findings in earlier studies on Australian union renewal, they
found that there is considerable dissonance between theoretical models of organizing unionism
and the realities of everyday compliance-related activities within many Australian unions. In
particular, they found that in four out of the five unions, organizers were still expected to
perform a wide range of enforcement-related tasks. While this may be explained by a number
of factors (such as resource constraints and leadership), it may also be that the compliance-
related roles assigned to unions under legislative frameworks — roles hard fought for and won
— have in fact impeded the shift within Australian unions towards an organizing model of
unionism.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A TRADE UNION PERSPECTIVE.

Gereluk W and Royer L feel that Sustainable development has become an important issue for
trade unions around the world, but progress on sustainable development has been slow. Agenda
21, which came out of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de
Janeiro, called on workers and trade unions to assume an active role. The International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee
(TUAC) to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) became
influential players who represent more than 155 million members in 148 countries and
territories. The implementation of Agenda 21 has been hampered by bureaucratic gridlock--a
situation that trade unions propose to overcome through innovative strategies on workplaces
and workers. They realize that sustainable development cannot take place without radical
changes in production and consumption. Globalization is creating opulence on the one hand
and grinding poverty on the other. ICFTU and TUAC propose a new "world order" that
includes democratic decision-making, popular accountability, transparency, and local control.
They have proposed priorities for an international approach to sustainable development.

IMPACT OF TRADE UNIONS ON ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE: THE

CASE OF SINGAPORE
Trade unions may exact a heavy cost on an economy, but there is one mode of trade unionism
that will enable the trade union to play a positive role in economic development. This mode of
unionism, which may be characterized as macro-focused, requires the trade union to work
closely with the ruling party in order to contribute to economic development. The required
symbiosis between such a trade union and the ruling party may not be sustainable when there
is a change in government. Author SOON BENG CHEW argues that a union can remain macro-
focused as long as it is not part of any political party and therefore can work with any
government regardless of which political party is in power. He examined the various
conditions, both economic and non-economic, under which such an outcome can exist and be
sustainable and also analysed how a macro-focused union induces workers to join the union
based on the results of a field survey of 690 respondents in Singapore.
WHAT UNIONS DO: HOW LABOUR UNIONS AFFECT JOBS AND THE
ECONOMY
The AFL–CIO argues that unions offer a pathway to higher wages and prosperity for the middle
class. Critics point to the collapse of many highly unionized domestic industries and argue that
unions harm the economy. Unions simply do not provide the economic benefits that their
supporters claim they provide. They are labour cartels, intentionally reducing the number of
jobs to drive up wages for their members. In competitive markets, unions cannot cartelize
labour and raise wages. Companies with higher labour costs go out of business. Consequently,
unions do not raise wages in many newly organized companies. Unions can raise wages only
at companies that have competitive advantages that permit them to pay higher wages, such as
successful R&D projects or long-lasting capital investments.

On balance, unionizing raises wages between 0 percent and 10 percent, but these wage
increases come at a steep economic cost. They cut into profits and reduce the returns on
investments. Businesses respond predictably by investing significantly less in capital and R&D
projects. Unions have the same effect on business investment as does a 33 percentage point
corporate income tax increase.

Less investment makes unionized companies less competitive, and they gradually shrink.
Combined with the intentional efforts of a labour cartel to restrict labour, unions cut jobs.
Unionized firms are no more likely than non-union firms to go out of business—unions make
concessions to avoid bankruptcy—but jobs grow at a 4 percent slower rate at unionized
businesses than at other companies.

Over time, unions destroy jobs in the companies they organize. In manufacturing, three quarters
of all union jobs have disappeared over the past three decades, while the number of non-union
jobs has increased. No economic theory posits that cartels improve economic efficiency. Nor
has reality ever shown them to do so. Union cartels retard economic growth and delay recovery
from recession.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
While trade unions have played an essential role in social dialogue between workers, employers
and governments, their membership in many countries has declined dramatically in recent
years.

In this paper, we are going to analyse the workers’ satisfaction level with trade unions and
functioning of trade unions. Our main focus will be aimed at understanding the satisfaction
level of workers with the trade unions and if and how it helps them in different aspects during
their tenure.

Following are the major areas where we are going to do research on in order to find out the
reality and probable solutions with a thorough analysis:

 To understand the reasons why employees join unions

 To find out whether union support them in crisis situations
 To find out whether unions increase the productivity or decrease it
 To find out whether unions protect them from exploitation and help to uphold health
and safety legislation
 To find out whether trade unions help to negotiate and implement new working
practices which help to increase productivity
 To find out whether trade unions provide legal support to workers if needed
 To find out whether trade unions are needed anymore in current conditions
To find the reality of trade unions role from a worker’s perspective we are going to create a
Questionnaire in order to collect the primary data for analysis of need for trade unions to exist
in a workplace. In this questionnaire we are going to use the variables such as

 Age,
 Gender,
 Reason to join the union,
 Satisfaction level,
 Ensuring safety standards,
 Help in Representation at higher levels, etc.
The research methodology that we’re going to use in this research is Descriptive Type. It deals
with describing the feature of any particular individual or of groups. It describes the state of
affairs as it exists at present which includes surveys and the fact finding inquires of different
kind.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methods can be defined as “a systematic ad scientific procedure of data collection,
compilation, analysis, interpretation, and implication pertaining to any business problem”.
Types of research methods can be classified into several categories according to the nature and
purpose of the study and other attributes.

General Classification
 Quantitative research “describes, infers, and resolves problems using numbers.
Emphasis is placed on the collection of numerical data, the summary of those data and
the drawing of inferences from the data”.
 Qualitative research is based on words, feelings, emotions, sounds and other non-
numerical and unquantifiable elements. Information is considered qualitative in nature
if it cannot be analysed by means of mathematical techniques. This characteristic may
also mean that an incident does not take place often enough to allow reliable data to be
collected.

According to Nature of the Study

 Descriptive research usually involves surveys and studies that aim to identify the facts.
In other words, descriptive research mainly deals with the “description of the state of
affairs as it is at present”, and there is no control over variables in descriptive research.
 Analytical research is fundamentally different in a way that “the researcher has to use
facts or information already available and analyse these in order to make a critical
evaluation of the material”.

According to the Purpose of the Study

 Applied research refers to scientific study and research that seeks to solve practical
problems. This type of research plays an important role in solving everyday problems
that often have an impact on life, work, health, and overall well-being. Applied research
is used to find solutions to everyday problems, cure illness, and develop innovative
technologies.
 Fundamental research is scientific research aimed to improve scientific theories for
improved understanding or prediction of natural or other phenomena. It focuses on
creating and refuting or supporting theories that explain observed phenomena. Pure
research is the source of most new scientific ideas and ways of thinking about the world.

According to Research Design

 Exploratory studies only aim to explore the research area and they do not attempt to
offer final and conclusive answers to research questions.
 Conclusive studies, on the contrary, aim to provide final and conclusive answers to
research questions.
Table below illustrates the main differences between exploratory and conclusive research
designs:

Exploratory research Conclusive research

Well-structured and systematic in

Structure Loosely structured in design design

Have a formal and definitive

Are flexible and investigative in methodology that needs to be
Methodology methodology followed and tested

Most conclusive researches are

Do not involve testing of carried out to test the formulated
Hypotheses hypotheses hypotheses

Findings might be topic specific Findings are significant as they

and might not have much relevance have a theoretical or applied
Findings outside of researcher’s domain implication

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY USED IN THE RESEARCH

Descriptive type of design was used in this research. Descriptive research deals with describing
the feature of any particular individual or of groups. It describes the state of affairs as it exists
at present which includes surveys and the fact finding inquires of different kind. Here, the
researcher is analysing the role of trade unions in productivity by surveying people working in
various organizations.

Technique Used
By distributing questionnaire data is collected, where respondents have specific limited
alternative response and they are required to choose the closest response to their own
viewpoints. Self-administered questionnaire is used where the respondents have to read and
answer the questions. By adopting this method to gather information, responses are gathered
in standardized way. This practice promotes more objective compare to other methods. It is
also quick and easy to collect information from respondent, which are the workers.

Sample Design
The sampling design is used in this project is simple random sampling in which samples are
selected in random for performing the analysis and to interpret the results. Simple random
sampling comes under probability sampling in which samples are equally taken
Collection Of data -Questionnaire Design
Primary data is useful when the research objectives cannot be achieved by secondary data. All
the primary data are collected by distributing questionnaire. In the questionnaire, 17 questions
are posed related to length of service, trade union- benefits, promises made. The questionnaire
ended with how trade union increase the productivity in organization.

Statistical Tools
The following are the statistical tools used for the study

Simple Percentage Analysis

This method is used for comparing certain feature. The collected data represented in the form
of tables and graphs in order to give effective visualization of comparison mode.

Sample presentation = (Actual population / Sample size) *100

Chi-Square Analysis
Chi-Square also written as test, is any statistical hypothesis test wherein the sampling
distribution of the test statistic is a chi-squared distribution when the null hypothesis is true.
The chi-squared test is used to determine whether there is a significant difference between the
expected frequencies and the observed frequencies in one or more categories.

In the standard applications of the test, the observations are classified into mutually exclusive
classes, and there is some theory, or say null hypothesis, which gives the probability that any
observation falls into the corresponding class. The purpose of the test is to evaluate how likely
it is between the observations and the null hypothesis.
Mainly used to

 Test the goodness of fit

 Test the significance of association between two attributes
 Test the homogeneity or the significance of population variance
Calculate the chi square statistic x2 by completing the following steps:

Chi-Square= ∑(𝑶 − 𝑬)𝟐/𝑬

O – Observed Frequency
E- Expected Frequency
Expected value for the contingency tabulated as follows

Expected= (row total) * (column total) / (grand total)

Chi square depends on the set of observed and expected values and on the degree of freedom
SURVEY AND INTERPRETATION
Questionnaire
1) AGE

According to the survey maximum number of employees in the organisation are under 25 years
followed by employees ranging between 25-35 years old.
2) GENDER

According to the survey male candidates are about 80% of the sample population.
3) LENGTH OF SERVICE

People with work experience ranging from 0-5 years contribute to about 90% of the sample.
 4) WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO JOIN THE UNION

We can clearly see that more than 50% of the employees joined union because they have no
one to support if they face problem in job and the union is the only support they can have at
that time. The union is always there to support the employees in whatever crisis situation they
are in. Thus, employees in the organization feels safe and can work fearlessly if they have union
backing them up. As an individual it is difficult to raise voice against the organization. But
when you are backed up by a union, it is far easier to raise your issues against them.
Also, we see almost 20% of the employees joined the union because they think that an Union
can ensure improvements in their pay and working condition. As an individual, asking for a
raise or asking for a correct evaluation is not always possible. Rather with the help of a union
people can share their problem and implement them easily.

5) OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH YOUR TRADE UNION?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 5
Neutral 7
Agree 19
Strongly Agree 40

For the above question employees above 50% supported the fact that they are highly satisfied
with the trade union. So, it is clear that union supports the employees and try to gain their trust.
Unions also try to represent the employees on matters of negotiation of salary. Only a few
employees will disagree with this fact.

6) DOES UNIONS ENSURE IMPROVEMENTS IN YOUR PAY AND WORKING

CONDITIONS?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 3
Neutral 11
Agree 24
Strongly Agree 36
As mentioned before union plays a strong role in representing the employees during salary
negotiation. The same thing is also reflected in the survey conducted. We clearly see that about
50% of the employee strongly believe the fact that union ensure in improving the pay and
working condition of the employee.

7) DOES UNION PROVIDE SUPPORT AND THE BENEFITS THAT YOU SEEK AT
WORK?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 3
Neutral 1
Agree 35
Strongly Agree 31

There are n number of benefits that an employee may get if he is hired in a company.
Sometimes the employees are not aware of all the benefits because they do not read the terms
and conditions thoroughly. In such case the organization gets the benefit if the employee will
not claim his benefits. For highlighting the benefits and to look through the fact that all the
employees are getting their benefits, the union plays a very vital role. Thus sample employees
strongly believe in union support.

8) DOES UNION HELP IN REPRESENTATION AT HIGHER LEVEL?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 4
Neutral 6
Agree 13
Strongly Agree 51

The union is always there to support the employees in whatever crisis situation they are in.
Thus, employees in the organization feels safe and can work fearlessly if they have union
backing them up. As an individual it is difficult to raise voice against the organization. But
when you are backed up by a union, it is far easier to raise your issues against them. Thus, with
union backing the employees they can even help in representing at a higher level dealing
directly with higher authorities.
 9) DOES YOUR TRADE UNION PRESSURIZE EMPLOYERS TO ENSURE BETTER
SAFETY STANDARDS?

Strongly Disagree 1
Disagree 2
Neutral 7
Agree 28
Strongly Agree 33

With the union having higher power, they can provide us with better safety and also pressurize
the employees to ensure the same. This is clearly reflected in the survey.

10) DOES YOUR TRADE UNION PROVIDE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BY

MEANS OF TRAINING?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 3
Neutral 6
Agree 21
Strongly Agree 40

With trade union providing support, employees will be entitled to more number of trainings
which will intern increase their skills. In long run it will help as a competitive advantage. With
union support employees can get benefits of modern technologies and get themselves updated
to compete against their peers and employees of other similar companies.

11) DO YOU THINK TRADE UNION CAN PROVIDE LEGAL SUPPORT TO

WORKERS WHEN THEY FACE POLICE ACTIONS AND LEGAL TANGLES?

Strongly Disagree 1
Disagree 2
Neutral 7
Agree 15
Strongly Agree 47

Trade union will have a strong influence on politics and have connections to high extent which
is why when any legal support is needed for a worker, it could provide the same. Sample survey
also agrees with this fact that if any employee is facing police actions and legal tangles, the
union will back them up.
 12) DO YOU FEEL TRADE UNIONS CAN NEGOTIATE WITH MANAGEMENT FOR
MUTUAL GIVE AND TAKE IN MATTERS OF INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 3
Neutral 12
Agree 23
Strongly Agree 38

Union has a big influence on the management of the company and when it comes to matters of
increased productivity, the union is always there to negotiate.

13) DOES THE TRADE UNION PROVIDE THE SECURITY ALLIANCES TO THE
EMPLOYEES IN CASE OF ANY ISSUES?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 0
Neutral 12
Agree 11
Strongly Agree 49

With the union having higher power, they can provide us with better safety and also provide
security alliances to employees in case of any issues. This is clearly reflected in the survey.

14) DO YOU FEEL NON-MEMBERS SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO THESE BENEFITS

AND SERVICE?

Strongly Disagree 0
Disagree 1
Neutral 3
Agree 31
Strongly Agree 39
ANALYSIS OF CHI SQUARE TEST
Null hypothesis H0: There is no significant relationship between worker’s satisfaction level
and functioning of trade unions.

Alternate hypothesis H1: There is significant relationship between worker’s satisfaction level
and functioning of trade unions.
The significant level is 5 percent. As per homogeneity right tail test, rejection region is 0.05.
Degrees of freedom, df = (r-1) * (c-1), r=no. of rows c=no. of column
= (5-1) * (10-1) = 36
From the chi square table, critical value= 23.14389
Expected= (row total) * (column total) / (grand total)
Grand total= 700

TABLE CHI SQUARE TEST

OBSERVED VALUES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Strongly 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
disagree
Disagree 5 3 3 4 2 3 2 3 0 1 19
Neutral 7 11 1 6 7 6 7 12 12 3 65
Agree 19 24 35 13 28 21 15 23 11 31 208
Strongly agree 40 36 31 51 33 40 47 38 49 39 406
70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 700

EXPECTED VALUE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 2
1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 19 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9
6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 65 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5
20.8 20.8 20.8 20.8 20.8 20.8 20.8 20.8 20.8 20.8 208
40.6 40.6 40.6 40.6 40.6 40.6 40.6 40.6 40.6 40.6 406
70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 700

Test statistics, 𝑋 2 =23.8

The result of the chi-square test reveals that the calculated chi-square value (23.8) is more than
the table chi-square value (23.14389) at 5% level of significance, it reveals that there is
significant relationship between worker’s satisfaction level and functioning of trade unions.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The study mainly focuses on how to understand the workers satisfaction level with the trade
union and how trade union helps them in every aspect.

By this chi-square test, finally it is clear that there is significant relationship between worker’s
satisfaction level and functioning of trade unions.

We can clearly see that more that the employees joined union because they have no one to
support if they face problem in job and the union is the only support they can have at that time.
The union is always there to support the employees in whatever crisis situation they are in.
Thus, employees in the organization feels safe and can work fearlessly if they have union
backing them up. As an individual it is difficult to raise voice against the organization. But
when you are backed up by a union, it is far easier to raise your issues against them.
We can also conclude that most of the employees are for the support of the union and they
want the union to exist in the workplace. As employees strongly believe that
‘United we stand, Divided we fall’
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