Trade Union Structure

Organizational issues Definition of organization : An organization as the planned coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievement of some common explicit purpose of goals, through division of labour and functions, and through a hierarchy of authority and responsibility.

Features of an organization Below, may be regarded as some characteristic features of organizations : Human activities Activities requiring coordination Common goals Integration Division of function Authority and responsibility

Trade union According to the Webbs (1894), a Trade Union “is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives”. If we match the features of an organization as postulated by Schein (1980) in his definition of organizations, human activities, common goals, co-ordinations, functions, then, it would be sensible to argue that Trade Unions are indeed organizations as the definition of a Trade Union enunciated above shows the purpose in the regulation of the terms and conditions of employment of workers.

Organizational issues How democratic is the charter or constitution of the TU? The degree of influence of political party and its ideology Extent of internal or intra-union democracy Freedom of expression Participatory method of decision making on the issues affecting the interests of the members Majority rule vs minority rights Candidate selection, leadership selection, policy making, membership relations, gender and minorities Functional autonomy Intellectual gap between the union leaders and the workers at the lower level Decentralization