DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE UNIONISM

With the rise of factory system, the workers faced several problems in the factories. They got lower wages and worked under poor working conditions. So they organised themselves into trade unions to secure better wages and better condition of work. The basic philosophy underlying trade unionism was that through strength and collective support, the employers could be forced to listen to the workers and redress their grievances. The weapons used included strikes, slowdowns, walkouts, picketing, boycotts and sabotage. Sometimes even physical force was used. Trade unionism influenced the personnel management in such fields of activity as the adoption of employee grievance handling systems, the acceptance of arbitration as a means of resolving conflicts about rights, disciplinary practices, the expansion of employee benefits programmes, the liberalisation of holiday and vacation time, clear definition of job duties, job rights through seniority and the installation of rational and defensible wage structures to avoid industrial disputes.

The influence of trade unions, several employers in the USA appointed welfare secretaries and also launched schemes for workers’ participation in their industries. They adopted paternalistic attitude towards the workers and invested on welfare activities for the betterment of workers. In several companies, personnel departments were set up around 1910 to look after function like recruitment, training, motion study, record-keeping, welfare etc.