Human Resource Management Case Study

Case Title:

Formation of Global Trade Unions: Prospects and Challenges

Abstract:
Globalisation has become a cliché of a modern economy. The flexibility created by open trade between countries has a direct impact on the labour force with changing labour market practices. The moment has arrived, when, the trade union movement has to spearhead towards a global front. The global trade union movement showcases an intercontinental presence with a single voice. However, the history of international trade unionism had been marked with adversities such as division and closure. On April 8th 2007, a stepping stone for the 21st century global union was laid, when Amicus of the UK and Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G) of the UK and Ireland signed an agreement with United Steelworkers (USW) operating in the US, Canada and the Caribbean to form a transatlantic union. This proposed union faces a Herculean task of organising international solidarity among the labour force. Whether the transatlantic trade union will rise to the occasion or not is to be seen.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the trade union movement across the globe
• To analyse the role of trade unions in a rapidly globalising world
• To analyse the prospects and challenges in the formation of a truly global trade union.

Keywords :  Trade Unionism, Global Trade Unions, Trade Unions and Globalisation, Labour laws, Amicus, Transport and General Workers Union ( T&G), United Steel Workers, Trade Union Movement, HRM Case Study, Trade Unions in Developing Economy, Trade Unions in Developed Economy, Evolution of Trade Unions