Unions Versus Human Resources

Unions Versus Human Resources

In preparation for this assignment, review the following resources:

• Managing Human Resources (Links to an external site.)
• A New Mandate for Human Resources (Links to an external site.)
• Does This Company Need a Union? (Links to an external site.)
• Voices of Union – Voices of Young Workers (Links to an external site.)
• Workplace Health and Safety History, to the 1920s (Links to an external site.)
• Workplace Health and Safety History 1930s to WWII (Links to an external site.)
• Workplace Healthy and Safety History WWII to OSHA (Links to an external site.)

According to Beer et al (1984), human resources management (HRM) has developed as a way to serve workers’ interests, albeit internally within the workplace. This challenges the role of worker advocacy.  Historically, workers’ interests have been served by external representatives from labor unions, and have also been protected through government interventions such as laws and regulations. The purpose of this assignment is to understand the roles of unions and the role of HRM, and examine whether workers have adequate support and protections in the modern workplace. After reading the text chapters for Week 1 and Week 2 and reviewing the resources provided:

• Explain how unions, human resources management personnel, and government interventions (such as laws and regulations) serve to address worker rights and worker safety.
• Evaluate whether unions and HRM have unique roles for different groups (i.e., the organization, management, and the workers) or if there are areas of overlap.
• Assess the following statement, “Workers in the modern workplaces of America are well protected and well supported.” Explain whether you agree or disagree with this statement, based on what you now know about government interventions, unions, HRM, and worker advocacy. Be sure to support your agreement or disagreement with statements of reasoning from your analysis.

The paper must be four to five double-spaced pages in length (excluding the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style. You must use at least three scholarly sources (which can be found in the Ashford University Library) other than the textbook to support your claims. Cite your sources in text and on the reference page. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course. In particular, it would be helpful for you to review Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.), Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.), and the APA Essay Checklist for Students (Links to an external site.) to ensure you have all of the required components for this assignment.

Reference: Beer et al (1984) Managing Human Assets. The Free Press: New York, NY.