"A trade union is an independant self-regulating organization of workers
             created to protect and advance the interests of its members through collective
             action." Over recent years, it has become fashionable in many quarters to
             write off Britain's trade unions, to label them as obsolete institutions out
             of touch with new realities and incapable of change. In today's world of
             individual employment contracts, performance-related pay schemes, Human Resource
             and Total Quality Management and all the other ingredients of the so-called
             'new' workplace, trade unions are often regarded as anachronistic obstacles
             preventing success of the market economy. As collective voluntary organizations
             that represent employees in the workplace, it is argued, trade unions no longer
             serve a useful purpose. The main priority of this essay is to represent the
             arguments for and against the relevance of trade unions in todays working
             society. Furthermore, I shall comment on the future of the trade union movement,
             based upon the facts and findings that helped construct this text. Trade unions
             exist because an individual worker has very little power to influence decisions
             that are made about his or her job. The greatest advantage in joining a trade
             union is because, by doing so, individuals possess more chance of having a voice
             and influence in their place of work. By joining forces with other workers, an
             individual's opinions and beliefs regarding their job will also be voiced by
             other union members, thus creating a stronger stance against management, if
             needed. Therefore, the main purpose of a trade union is to protect and improve
             people's pay and conditions of employment. This objective is usually achieved
             through negotiation and representation. Negotiation is where union
             representatives discuss with management, issues which affect people working in
             an organization. The union find...