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Employee and Labour Relation in Unitec Kingdom and United States of America

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Employee and Labour Relation in Unitec Kingdom and United States of America

Introduction

This scholarly write-up will mainly focus on the comparison and contrast of THE

USA and UK labour Relation. Additionally , the paper will highlight the key

similarities and differences in the two countries. Specifically, the discussion will duel

on trade union, employer associations and the state, and primary shifts that are

happening currently in the USA and UK (Katz et al., 2015).

Initiating the discussion, the main comparison between labour relation in the USA and UK

indicates that there exist remarkable resemblances in macroeconomic and labour relation

growths in the countries (Katz et al., 2015). Besides, the two countries have posited policy

ratios close to zero for a long period, low heading inflation, abrupt employment generation,

intense decline in unemployment and vulnerable headline earnings growth. Nonetheless, are

crucial differences between the UK and US labour relation: in participation and self-

employment. These disparities are not autonomous and may posit some significant

interrelationships

Moving forward, the two nations have several similarities in their labour relations. First,

it is important to note that the UK first established their trade union in 1750, this being

the craft unions followed by general union and industrial union. Same to the UK, USA

also established the craft unions as their first trade unions in the early 1790s. Industrial

unions began to emerge in the UK in early 1800’s and encompassed primarily of

inexperienced and semi-skilled employees of enterprises such as railways and the mines

being that competent employees at that duration were part of craft unions (Katz et al., 2015).

Likewise, industrial unions began in USA around the 1800’s and the initial experiment
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to unionise plant employees was launched by an enormous party called the “knights of

labour” who adopted almost all inexperienced employees who needed to enrol since it

posited a broader goal than craft unions.

Sighting to the history of the two nations, there existed major differences, One of the

difference between the is the establishment of two different unions distinct to each nation.

Whereas industrial employee of the realm was an outlet which allocated labour into

industrial unions encompassed primarily from timber and miner employees that aimed to

enhance operating climates and over throw capitalism through violent-prone ways.

Another difference is that the power of trade unions in the USA are much weaker than the

UK unions. The justification is because USA had thin economic interests that favour

employers thus multinational corporations(MNC’s) have extra power impact in the region

of employment and industrial relations directing to additional industry governed unions.

Focusing on the labour force participation, the main similarity between USA and UK that

they both posit national federations. For instance, the UK has a federation of engineering

employees while USA has the “National Association of Manufacturers”. Second

resemblance in association to the two nations is that their respective federations holds vital

impacts on the nation’s financial and industrial associations policies being that they establish

enormous preponderance of employment and give rise to immense income into the economy.

Proceeding with the discussion, besides the above similarities, there exists a limited number

of discrepancies between the two nations also (Bamber et al., 2020). To start with, UK has

two other categories of employer associations. In discrepancy, employers’ federations in the

USA comprises primarily of independent MNC’s without any important sole cores of

institutes. Lastly, scientific management is utilized in USA as a basis of the management

technique while on the other hand it is not exercised in UK


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The revolution of people in power in both the USA and UK has in the due process led to

tremendous changes in the employment and industrial relations in the countries. Pertaining

the same, in both the nations, the capacity of trade unions has tremendously lessened in the

UK because of the reforms formulated by the thatcher administration in the 1980’s, where

she entirely modified the legislations to appease workers' needs for labour market flexibility,

deregulation of business and labour laws (Katz et al., 2015). Likewise, in the US, Ronald

Reagan’s administration ratified the legislations favouring the employers so as to compete in

the international market. Additionally, there exist some extra similar change modifications

that both the US and UK, such as, a rise in industrial procedures in connection to “labour

intensive” industry and enhanced employments in the service provision industry and a

decline in employment in the manufacturing sector. Also, firms have hailed employee

diversity for instance, women and immigrant employees joining the labour market. Again,

firms are providing flexibility in labour markets

For the two nations, collective bargaining is another factor of difference. Collective

bargaining occurs at the industry stage in the UK, meaning that trade unions settle matters

with employer(s) of a particular company rather than numerous institutions in a specific

sector. Though, in the USA, this process takes place at the industry level between the trade

unions and administration.

Conclusion

So far from this discussion, it is prominently identifiable that both the UK and USA labour

force relation is a complex sector. Besides one country being a colony of the other, their

labour force posit some major differences and also similarities (Pace University, 2021). The

paper has critically given insight explanations of the labour force relation in both the
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countries, majoring on their comparison and contrast and similarities and differences since

the chronological errors to the current modifications.

Reference

Bamber, G. et al., 2020. International and Comparative Employment Relations National


Regulation, global changes, London: Routledge.

Katz, H.C., Kochan, T.A. & Colvin, A.J., 2015. Labor Relations in a Globalizing World,
Ithaca: ILR Press.

Pace University , 2021. Human resources: Employee and Labor Relations. Pace University
New York. Available at:
https://www.pace.edu/human-resources/working-pace/employee-and-labor-relations
[Accessed April 5, 2022].

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