Globalisation and employment relations - Essay Example

At this point Herod provides an avenue upon which we can understand the employment relationship that exist between the owners of capital and the people who work in their firms .He observes that people offer their labor services to the owners of capital but they do not get compensation equal to the value they create in the final products. This way Herod is able to bring out a very clear picture of the employment relationship that exist in the capitalist society. In addition, Herod argues that capitalism presents different types of employment relations some of which are capitalist in nature while others are not, for instance, they are people who are self-employed and they do not hire people to get labor services.

In this case, they are not engaged in capitalist mode of production though they may buy materials from other people and this is what Herod refers to as capitalist social relationship. Globalization is seen as penetrating, places that were traditional before and conquering them and hence becoming very powerful. This ability to dominate makes it almost impossible for workers to win against the Trans-National Companies (TNCs) in case of labor disputes. This is because the TNCs have the capacity to hire reputable lawyers and move around the labor laws and regulations in the host country.

The TNCs also have the capacity translate the local languages and traditions allowing them to be able to dominate the local workers who are divided by the same traditions and language barriers. To help us appreciate further the employment relations, Herod compares the kind of relationship that exists between the workers and the employers in East Europe and in Western countries. For instance, in Eastern Europe, workers and employers came together and formed groups to enhance their chances of accessing government resources as privatization of state parastatals started.

On the other hand, labor organizations found themselves in a dilemma in trying to cushion their members from the negative effects of privatization and at the same time being against the people from the old order who wanted to benefit only themselves. Globalization, according to Herod is also seen as ‘Westernization’ or ‘Modernization’ where the Western values of capitalism and democracy are to be spread out to the rest o f the world. The spatial difference will be done away with as the rest of the world adopts capitalism especially the Least Developed Countries (LDCS).

The developing countries are viewed as lagging behind and as time goes by they will catch up with the Western countries and become like them. Modernization therefore seems to a process that occurs geographically as modern values spread from more advanced nations to traditional nations especially the third world countries. The less developed nations will do away with dictatorships and embrace democracy as the modern form of government. Herod goes on to examine the assertion that globalization is diluting the power of the Nation-State as individual Nations are forced to deregulate the market and at the same time relinquish their duty of offering public goods like education and health.

Organizations like the European Union (EU) and the World Trade Organizations (WTO) are said to be eclipsing the Nation-State. However, Herod is of the view that these irrternational organizations may not erase the importance of the individual Nation-States as most of them are