Assessing the Effectiveness of Trade Unions in Protecting Educators’ Interests in the Workplace

Abstract

Educators likewise as employees expect the trade unions to protect their interests on the workplace to ensure productivity. The objective of this paper was to assess the role of trade unions in protecting the interests of educators at the workplace during rationalisation and resource redeployment. A qualitative research approach was followed to achieves the objective of the paper and fifteen educators who are members of trade unions were interviewed. Content analysis method is used to analyse the primary data obtained during in-depth interviews. The findings of this study uncovered that trade unions attempt to protect the interests of their members during rationalisation and resources redeployment, however, the final decision during the process remains with school principals. This paper offers recommendations to key stakeholders in public schools and future research directions on the topic.