Recently, the union for rail workers in Canada gave in their 72 hour notice that they would be conducting a strike.

The idea of unionization as a topic of business ethics consists of two main viewpoints. On one hand, the rail workers are protecting not just their wages but their job security when they join a union. As a form of self-preservation, it makes sense why so many unions are created and utilized across the world.

https://twitter.com/TeamstersRail/status/868589771387490306/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2Fsaskatchewan%2Frail-workers-strike-mandate-saskatchewan-1.4134672 

On the other hand, from the business’ point of view, a worker’s union makes it much more difficult to run an efficient and profitable business. To no longer have the power to treat each employee as their own individual with regards to wages and job security is a large swing of power between employee and employer. It detracts from the autonomy of capitalist economies.

However, this is a complex ethical issue raised in the business setting. It raises the imperative question: how much power should the employee have relative to the employer? There could not be an employee if not for an employer, yet the opposite is also true.

At its core, unions were designed to prevent the business from being able to fire an employee at their own discretion. It saw to include the government in the business transaction occurring and give rights to the employee so that they could not be discriminated against. In other words, it saw to make things more fair for the employee.

What is fair in business? Or, more importantly, is there fairness in business at all? Wall Street would say not at all; that business is a dog eat dog world where it is survival of the fittest. The fundamental idea of unions, though, suggest that business could be fair and employee and employer could meet at a fair median of job security.

In conclusion, the union of rail workers on strike is only one example of many. Businesses in the 21st century especially must set clear guidelines of interaction with their employees in order to avoid large-scale disagreements such as the one reported on CBC.

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