Email this article 
Trade Unions: Relevant Out of Irrelevant? A Study on Generation’s Perception in Malaysia
Abstract
Generational differences on workforce in Malaysia have stirred the value of trade unionism. The transition from generation-X to generation-Y has created diverse perceptions on the relevance of being a member of a trade union. In the near future, generation-Y will be the bastion of the Malaysian workforce. They will be a fundamental actor in reshaping the industrial relations ecosystem in Malaysia. In this respect, this study focused on unionized and non-unionized generation-X and Y employee’s perception on the importance of trade unionism in the Malaysian context. Using a qualitative study, face-to-face semi-structured interviews with targeted respondents were conducted. The findings showed that the trade union do bring contributions to employees and protect employees from unfair actions but the density of trade unions declined due to unclear information known about trade unionism among generation Y. Based on the research findings, practical implications are discussed.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Alivin, M., & Sverke, M. (2000). Do New Generations Imply the End of Solidarity? Swedish
Unionism in the Era of Individualization. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 21, 71-95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X00211004
Aminuddin, M. (21 January 2008). The Role And Responsibilities of Trade Unions: What's Changing, What's Not!
Andrew, J. C. (2010). The Effects of Teachers Unions on American Education. Cato Journal, 30(1).
Bennett, J. T., & Kaufman, B. E. (2011). What do unions do? A twenty-year perspective. Transaction Books. PLACE OF PUBLICATION
Bryson, A., & Forth, J. (2011). Trade unions (pp. 255-271). Oxford University Press. PLACE OF PUBLICATION
Budd, J. W., Chi, W., Wang, Y., & Xie, Q. (2014). What Do Unions in China Do? Provincial-Level Evidence on Wages, Employment, Productivity, and Economic Output. Journal of Labor Research, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12122-014-9178-4
Carol, G. (2009). Union Impact on the Effective Adoption of High Performance Work Practices. Human Resource Management Review. TAK ADA NO VOL (?)
Clyde, W. (2000). From industrial democracy to union democracy. Journal of Labor Research, 3-14.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (3rd Edition). Sage Publications, Thousands Oak, USA.
D'Art, D., & Turner, T. (2008). Workers and the Demand for Trade Unions in Europe: Still a
Relevant Social Force? Economic and Industrial Democracy, 29, 165. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X07088540
Daniele, C., & Giacomo, C. (2000). Trade Union Membership : Theories and Evidence for Italy. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization and Labour Economics.
Deakin, S., & Koukiadaki, A. (2011). Capability Theory, Employee Voice, and Corporate Restructuring: Evidence from UK Case Studies. Comp. Lab. L. & Pol'y J., 33, 427. JOURNAL OR BOOK OR WHAT?
Eric, C. H., Lam Z. H., Kumar, R., Ramendran, C., & Kadiresan, V. (2012). The Effectiveness of Human Resource Management Practices on Employee Retention in Institute of Higher learning: A regression analysis. International Journal of Business Research and Management, 3.
Freeman, R. B., & Medoff, J. L. (1984). What do unions do? Indus. & Lab. Rel. Rev., 38, 244.
Furåker, B., & Berglund, T. (2003), Are the Unions Still Needed? Employees' Views of their Relations to Unions and Employers. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 24(4), 573-594. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X030244005
Gill, C. (2009). Union impact on the effective adoption of high performance work practices.
Human Resource Management Review, 39-50.
Hancké, B. (1993). Trade union membership in Europe, 1960–1990: rediscovering local unions. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 31(4), 593-613. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1993.tb00415.x
Kolben, K. (2014). Trade, Monitoring, and the ILO: Working To Improve Conditions in Cambodia's Garment Factories. Yale Human Rights and Development Journal, 7(1), 3.
Kumar, R., Ramendran, C., & Peter Y. (2012). The Impact of Employment of Foreign Workers: Local Employability and Trade Union Roles in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2, 530-541.
Main, D. (9 July 2013). Who are the millennial? LiveScience retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/ on 29 April 2014.
Malaysia Trade Union Congress. Retrieved on 2013, 27 January, from http://www.mtuc.org.my/affliates.htm#ag
Mohamed R. K. M. H., Mohamad, N. C. S., Hasan, N. A., Olaganthan, V, Gunasekaran, Y. (2013). The Impact of an Organization’s Culture towards Employees’ Performance: A Study on the Frontline Hotel Employees. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(8). https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v3-i8/107
Piyali, G., Shefali, N., & Ashish, G. (2009). The Changing Roles of Trade Unions in India. A Case Study of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), ÜNCHAH AR. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 14(1), 37-57.
Provis, C. (1996). Unitarism, Pluralism, Interests and Values. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 34(4), 473-495. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1996.tb00486.x
Ramasamy, N. (2008, January). The future of the trade union movement in Malaysia. In MTUC/American Council for Labour Solidarity National Workshop on ‘MTUC–The Way Forward (pp. 21-22).
Ramendran, C. S. P. R., Mohamed, R. K. M. H., Nadarajan, P., & Rajadurai, M. M. (2013). EXCESSIVE JOB PROTECTION BY LABOUR LAW IMPEDES ORGANIZATION CHANGES: TO WHAT EXTEND JOB RETRENCHMENT IS A MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVE? International Journal of Education and Research, 1(2).
Rubenstein, S., & Kochan, T. (2001). Learning from Saturn: Possibilities for corporate governance and employee relations. Ithaca, NY. IS THIS FROM BOOK?
Sarkar, S., & Charlwood, A. (2014). Do cultural differences explain differences in attitudes towards unions? Culture and attitudes towards unions among call centre workers in Britain and India. Industrial Relations Journal, 45(1), 56-76.
Sarkar, S. (2012). Determinants of employees’ attitudes toward union membership in India.
Journal of World Business, 47(2), 240-250.
Todd, P., & Peetz, D. (2001). Malaysian Industrial Relations at Century's Turn: Vision 2020 or a Spectre of the Past? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 12(8), 1365-82. Trade Union act 1959 … CHECK WITH APA… HOW TO REFERENCE ACT…
Waddington, J., & Whitston, C. (1997). Why do people join unions in a period of membership decline? British Journal of Industrial Relations, 35(4), 515-546.
Westerman, J. W., & Yamamura, J. H. (2007). Generational preferences for work environment fit: effects on employee outcomes", Career Development International, 12(2), 150 – 161.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v8i3.11929
Copyright (c) 2018 Vimala Kadiresan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
International Journal of Human Resource Studies ISSN 2162-3058
Email: ijhrs@macrothink.org
Copyright © Macrothink Institute
To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the 'macrothink.org' domain to your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
