Membership participation and control in trade unions

The internal government of trade unions has been, and continues to be, a subject of special interest not only in academic research but for governments, unions themselves , and the community generally. The justification for this interest varies < Governments and other sectors of society, especially employers, are usually concerned to contain the economic and political power wielded by trade unions and for this reason are anxious to see that they display 1 responsible 1 leadership and moderation. Historically, trade unions themselves had a different reason for their attitude to their internal affairs. Trade unions came into existence primarily to provide opposition or a countervailing force against the autocratic practices of employers. Their primary purpose was to protect and advance the interests of the membership by eliminating gross inequalities in standards of living and conditions of life generally. The success of the unions' endeavours depended on a cohesive membership which was agreed on the goals to be fought for on their behalf. It was thus necessary for unions to devise mechanisms for ascertaining and obtaining agreement on what these goals should be. At the same time, the unions, in challenging the suppression of workers' rights by employers, had a strong incentive to apply principles of democracy to their own internal affairs as a demonstration of the sincerity of their criticism of autocratic practices. In other words, the trade union emerged as a democratic protest against arbitrary power and oppression and democratic self-government became the model for union government