Kesatuan Sekerja dan Hubungan Pekerjaan: Artikel Sorotan (Trade Unions and Employment Relationship: A Review Article)

Abstract

The employment relationship is a contemporary concept compared to industrial relations. Moreover, employment relationships include employer-employee relations, institutions and power. Therefore, this study examines the literature that is in line with trends and developments from time to time about trade unions and the employment relationship. Besides, the literature on trade unions and employment relationships in the Malaysian language and scope of political science are still lacking. Thus, all papers related to the two topics including democracy was identified. This study considers both qualitative and quantitative research papers. The year limitation for this literature review is from 2001 to 2021 to see trends and developments on this topic in the last 20 years. Following on from that, this study finds that the factors of trade union membership, trade union density, organizing and recruiting, trade union challenges, union democracy, employer tactics, and the role of the State are discourses that are consistently discussed among scholars in various countries. This consistency suggests that the theme of trade unions is well established in the employment relationship literature because trade unions to this day remain seen as the most relevant actor in fighting for workers’ rights.