Trade union movement in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Trade union movement in Britain - Essay Example The power of trade unions in countries around the world is not equal. In certain countries, such as Britain, the role of trade unions in promoting the rights of employees has been critical. Current paper presents the current state of trade union movement in Britain. In addition, the strategies that trade union movement in Britain employs to increase its influence are explained and evaluated. Through the literature published in regard to this subject it has been revealed that the current power of trade unions in Britain is limited, compared to the past. Radical changes in these unions’ policies and practices are required so that the power of trade union movement in Britain to return to high levels. 2. Trade union movement in Britain 2.1 Definitions In order to understand the various aspects of trade union movement in Britain it is necessary to present the definitions of certain terms, as these terms are closely related to the issues under discussion. The trade union has been de scribed as ‘a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives’ (Sinha 2004, p.1). Through a similar point of view, a trade union reflects ‘a combination aiming to regulate the relations between workmen and masters†¦.’ (1913 Trade Union Act, in Jackson, 1982, p.69). Different approaches have been also used for describing trade unions. For instance, reference can be made to the definition of trade union as developed by Flanders in 1975: ‘unions should act in order to challenge capitalism’ (Gardner and Palmer 1997, p.86). The above definition, being influenced by Marx’s views on employment relations, focuses on the relationship between employment and politics and not so much on the rights of employees in the workplace. Reference should be also made to the definition of worker. According to the Employment Rights Act 1996 a worker is an individual that meets the fol lowing three requirements: ‘a) works under a contract, b) to carry out personal services and c) for the other party of the contract’ (Gennard and Judge 2005, p.102). In the context of another definition, an employee is considered to be ‘the person that works for another under the terms of compensation’ (Twomey 2009, p.78). The compensation of employees can be monetary or of other form (Twomey 2009). 2.2 Current state of trade union movement in Britain As in all countries where a trade union movement exists, in Britain also, the trade union movement focuses on ‘the protection of jobs and of wages’ (Padhi 2008, p.543). Moreover, trade unions have the power to check whether working conditions are kept at a specific level, in terms of quality and safety (Padhi 2008). The existence of trade unions is based on the following fact: the position of employees is less advantageous compared to that of their employers (Weiss 2008, p.357). This means that em ployees are not equally powerful with their employers when having to negotiate for their rights (Weiss 2008). This fact has led to the introduction of trade unions, as a means for increasing the power of employees towards their employers (Weiss 2008). The current status of trade union movement in UK can be characterized as rather discouraging. In fact, through the decades the failures of the efforts of union leaders to secure the support of Labour government towards the trade union movement, as analyzed below, have led to the decrease of the unions’

Term Paper (4pages) - John Paulson, Goldman Sachs and Abacus 2007 AC1

(4pages) - John Paulson, Goldman Sachs and Abacus 2007 AC1 - Term Paper Example Due to imperfect information Goldman comes in with the knowledge of a German bank which is in the position of buying the risk that Paulson is exposed to as Paulson looks for a short. This bank is only able to buy the securities if the if they can be introduced by an external party. Goldman is still having the information that not every manager would not be willing to work with Paulson; this is because of the risk exposure and public complaint directed towards Paulson. With all this information, Goldman approaches ACA management bank for insurance brokerage. Successfully the bank accepts be become the manager in the deal of which it would assist Paulson in the selection of securities (Cohan and William, 27). By February 2007 Paulson had reached an agreement after working on a portfolio, they signed the agreement the same year. Gold man being behind all these does not reveal any information to anyone about the involvement of ACA and Paulson in the deal and the deal therefore remains a secret. The information that Paulson is engaged in an insider trading hence is shorting the securities also remains a mystery. Goldman had vast information including hat Paulson is planning to hold the riskiest of all the securities of ACA is also aware of, all these are based on the complaints presented (Cohan and William, 123). Gold man swiftly puts together a deal branded as ‘Collateral Debt Obligation†, this deal is designed with a major objective of enabling Paulson to receive the exposure to the extent which they want it. In addition, the deal also coves the extent of IKB’s risk exposure extent is reached. In following of this, IKB takes a share of the deal of $150 million and this is the extent of risk to which it is exposed, another firm takes a risk up to $909 million. Both of the forms buy a protection to the extent of its