Public Labor Unions Are Beneficial to Society

According to the rules, I shall now begin the presentation of my arguments. My task shall be to prove why and how the influence of unions is good and beneficial to society. Without further ado, I will begin with my analysis.1. LABOUR EFFICIENCY1.1. Workers' contentmentThe heart of all labour and production are the workers. They work, produce and basically keep all production going. Of course, one of the most important goals of a state's economy is to achieve efficient labour so that more goods are produced; which in turn increases export rates, the quantity of goods on the market (and supply for the citizens). By extension, efficient labour strengthens the domestic market, forming a solid basis for a strong economy. It is obvious that efficient labour is extremely important and strived for. The question is: how does one achieve efficient labour? The value of labour is equal to its efficiency, and its efficiency is equal to what is invested in said labour. Just as one would invest capital in labour, one must also invest care. A happy worker is a productive worker; many employers have followed this maxim and it hasn't been proved wrong yet. To achieve the happiness of workers, they must be given the opportunity and right to negotiate with their managers and employers on an equal level. Such an approach has more than one benefit, and those benefits are:a) Reduced stress concerning potential wage-cuts and sackingsb) Ensured acceptable work conditions, ameliorating the work environment and increasing efficiencyc) A collective spirit amongst workersAchieving those benefits is the task of labour unions; since workers cannot effectively make their demands and needs recongized except by force (history proves this very well), labour unions listen to the workers' demands and negotiate them as equals to the employer. Such a need has been present ever since the rise of modern labour, to achieve solid conditions and prevent employers from creating a cheap workforce whose interests will not be cared for: "Industrialization in America brought conflict and stress between businesses and the labor force as mechanized production begin to replace household manufacturing. In the 19th century, an effort to count the balance of power more evenly, the labor force began to form Labor Unions that would help them to bargain for better rights. " [1]Workers that are not stressed out during work are more focused, that is undeniable, while labour unions also represent the workers as a whole, thus achieving a direct workers <-> employer contact and profiling the workers as equals to the manager/employer. In such a situation the workers think collectively, ponder their interests together and achieve cohesion; which is a crucial part of the creation of efficient labour. Such cohesion is only achieved by giving the workers voices, which has been very well recognized in modern society as well:"It is about time that thinking people [in the UK] recognised that trade unions are a good thing, integral to democracy as representatives of working people who would otherwise be voiceless. " [2]As already said, happiness increases efficiency. An unhappy labour force is not only inefficient, it also not cost-efficient - it results in employee disengagement. Such disengagement costs US companies 300 billion US dollars annually. [3] This evidence further backs up the link between happiness and efficiency. Workers whose demands are not met in the name of saving money are less committed, and even less likely to come to work. It is obvious that workers who do not show up will are not saving any money. All in all, a stable relationship between workers and employees is democratic and necessary for a healthy environment, and thus, must be assured. To assure it, one supervises it with labour unions. Labour unions offer workers representation, increasing their happiness, which increases their efficiency; this has been backed up by evidence.1.2. Working time (quantity of time spent on efficient labour)Another factor of efficient labour is time spent. The more time spent working, the more work will be done; as simple as that. A situation where workers cannot make their demands considered (and there is no ideal, utopian world where such events do not occur), forces the workers to abandon labour to strike, revolt or enact other measures; for even if their demands are considered, in most cases they will not be fully satisfied (the cause of most revolutions and revolts throughout history). Not only do such situations and events create disarray, they leave an empt space in time when no work is completed. Labour unions, on the other hand, represent the workers simultaneously with work being completed, thus achieving effective represetation of the workers as well as fluid, efficient work. It is thus proven that untreated unhappiness also costs time; another problem efficiently solved by labour unions. Labour unions simply provide the shortest, best paved road to efficiency; the goal of all labour.2. BENEFITS TO SOCIETAL VALUES AND ECONOMY2.1. Societal valuesIn the constitutions of most countries it is written that each and every citizen must have an equal opportunity for fair labour. This means that all must be offered the chance and right to a healthy work environment and that all workers should have this opportunity. The only way to achieve this is through labour unions. Each sector of specialized workers has its own labour union, and that union protects their right to a healthy environment. Giving each class a representative protects equality of opportunity. The second segment of these societal values is that the right to work is achieved (closely linked to 2.2. ), increasing employment rates and giving workers the right, as is the basis of the current system, to offer their "commodity" (work) for an employer's money in a "fair trade". Through protection of the basic rights concerning work and the workplace for all workers, labour unions promote positive social values, and thus are beneficial for society.2.2. Economic benefitsUnions protect the rights of their workers, and also promote the efficiency of their workers. Not only through happiness and efficient time (1.1. and 1.2. ), but also through direct influence on the economy. Among other things, unions can [4]: Increase the marginal productivity of their workers. This is often done through training. Support restrictions on imported goods through quotas and tariffs. This increases demand for domestic production and, therefore, domestic labor. By giving the workers a better environment, one achieves a better chance for workers to hone their skills in a certain job, thus, again, increasing their efficiency. In an environment with more available things to use, potential productivity is automatically increased. As I've already stated, a strong domestic market is the basis for a solid economy. Unions protect the domestic market through lobbying for restrictions through quotas and tariffs, and thus make domestic products more profitable. The bigger the quantity of domestic products, the bigger the export rate and the lesser the need for imports; effectively reducing expenses and bringing capital from transactions abroad. A society rests on a solid economy, and labour unions, as I've proven, support the economy. To onclude, I offer two graphs showing the opinion of American citizens on labour unions [5]. Following all this, I state that it has been shown that labour unions are beneficial to societySources:[1] . http://www.helium.com...[2] . http://www.opendemocracy.net...[3] . http://www.thegrindstone.com...[4] . http://www.investopedia.com...[5] . http://www.gallup.com...