Trade Unions and Their Impact

The video explores the role of trade unions in labour markets, focusing on their impact on wages and employment. It discusses how trade unions use collective bargaining to negotiate higher wages and better conditions for workers. The video examines the effects of trade unions in competitive and monopsony markets, highlighting their potential to cause unemployment and distort market efficiency. It also evaluates the real-world limitations of trade union power due to legislation and economic restructuring.

What is the primary function of a trade union?

• To reduce the number of workers in a profession

• To provide individual bargaining for workers

• To collectively bargain for higher wages and better conditions

• To act as a monopoly supplier of goods

In a closed shop trade union, what is the trade union's role in the labour market?

• It acts as a competitive supplier of labour

• It has no influence on wage rates

• It reduces the power of individual workers

• It becomes a monopoly supplier of labour

How do trade unions affect the supply curve in the labour market?

• They make it horizontal up to a point

• They make it vertical

• They make it downward sloping

• They do not affect the supply curve

What is a potential negative impact of trade unions on employment?

• They cause unemployment by creating excess supply

• They decrease wages for all workers

• They increase the number of jobs available

• They have no impact on employment levels

Why might trade unions be considered inefficient in a competitive labour market?

• They always increase employment

• They distort efficient market outcomes

• They reduce wages for all workers

• They have no impact on market efficiency

In what type of market can trade unions potentially improve outcomes?

• Monopsony labour markets

• Perfectly competitive markets

• Oligopoly markets

• Monopoly markets

What is 'union density'?

• The number of strikes a union can organize

• The density of workers in a given area

• The proportion of the workforce in a trade union

• The number of trade unions in a country

How has legislation since the 1970s affected trade unions?

• It has increased their power significantly

• It has made closed shop unions mandatory

• It has limited their power and influence

• It has had no impact on their operations

What economic change has made organizing trade union activity more difficult?

• Increase in union membership

• Decrease in global competition

• Shift towards service sector jobs

• Increase in manufacturing jobs

How has globalization affected trade unions' power?

• It has strengthened their bargaining power

• It has had no effect on their influence

• It has reduced their ability to demand higher wages

• It has increased their membership