Industrial relations and trade

Unions- India
What is Industrial relations

Industrial Relations is the

Management of relationship
between employers and
employees
 Industrial Relationship
In the words of Lester:

"Industrial relations involve attempts at arriving at solutions

between the conflicting objectives and values; between the
profit motive and social gain; between discipline and
freedom, between authority and industrial democracy;
between bargaining and co-operation; and between
conflicting interests of the individual, the group and the
community”
 Definitions
One of the most comprehensive definitions which
views industrial relations from the perspective of
human relationships is by J. Henry Richardson:

"Industrial relations is an art, the art of living

together for purposes of production. The parties
while working together learn this art by acquiring
the skills of adjustment.
Another popular definition

IR is concerned with the systems ,rules, procedures

used by trade unions and Management to determine
the reward for the effort and other conditions of
employment ,to protect the interest of the employed
and the employers and to regulate the ways in which
the employers treat their employees.

K.Aswanthappa
Employer and Employee
EMPLOYER : Any person who employs whether
directly or through another person or on behalf of
himself or any other person one or more employees
in any scheduled employment in respect of which
minimum rates of wages have been fixed by the act.

EMPLOYEE: Any person who is employed for hire or

reward to do any work skilled or unskilled, manual or
clerical in a scheduled employment in respect of
which minimum rates of wages have been fixed.
 IndustrialDispute:
As per section 2(K)of I.D act industrial dispute
means any dispute or difference between
employers and employees,employers and
employers or employees and employees
which is connected with the employment
or non employment or the terms of
employmentor with the condition of labour
of any person.
•What is Industry?
Industry means any systematic activity carried on by
cooperation betweenan employer and his employee
Whether suchworkmen are employed by such employer
directly or by or through any agency including a
contractor for the production supply or distribution of
goods or service with a overview to satisfy humanWants
or wishes
(not being wants or wishes which are merely spritual or
religious in nature) whether or not
(i) any capital has been invested for the purpose of carrying
on such activity or (ii)such activity is carried on with a
motive to make any gain or profit and includs any activity
relating to the promotion of sales or business or both
carried on by an establishment
 Main Parties in Industrial Relations
There are three main parties in industrial relations:

1 Workers and their Organisations i.e. Trade Union :

 The personal characteristics of workers, their

culture, educational qualifications, skills,
attitude towards work, etc. play an important
role in industrial relations.
 2. Employers and their Organisation

 Employers and their Organisation: The employers are

another important variable in industrial relations. They
provide employment to workers and try to regulate their
behaviour for getting high productivity from them.

 In order to increase their bargaining power, employers in

several industries have organised employers' associations.
These associations put pressure on the trade unions and the
Government.
 3.Central&state Goverments
 Government: The Government or State plays an
important role on industrial relations through
such measures as providing employment,
intervening in working relationships. and
regulate wages, bonus and working conditions
through various laws relating to labour.

 The Government keeps an eye on both the trade

unions and employers' organisations to regulate
their behaviours in the interest of the nation.
 Scope of Industrial Relations
1) Development of Healthy Labour-Management
Relations:
The promotion of healthy labour management relations pre-supposes:

The existence of strong, well-organized, democratic

and responsible trade unions and associations of
employers.
This can lead to:
Job security of employees

Increased workers' participation in

management
Negotiations, consultations and discussions
2) Maintenance of Industrial Peace:
Industrial peace pre-supposes the absence of industrial
disputes.

Industrial peace is essential for increased productivity

and harmonious labour-management relations.
The industrial peace can be largely be maintained through
the following means:

Proper and sound machinery should be set up for the

prevention and settlement of industrial disputes

The industrial peace can also be attained by the creation

and maintenance of implementation cells and evaluation
committees which have the power to look into
implementation
of agreements, settlements and awards and also violations of
statutory provisions laid down under various labour laws.
(3) Development of Industrial
Democracy:

The concept is that labour should

have the right to be associated
with the management of an
industry. To achieve this objective,
the following techniques are
usually employed:
Establishment of the Joint Labour
Management Councils
At the floor and plant level. These councils aim at:
 Improving the working and living conditions of employee

 Improving productivity, encourage suggestions from

employees
 Assisting the administration of laws and agreements

 Serve
as a channel of communication between the
management and employees

 Creating among the employees a sense of participation in the

decision-making process and

 Sense of belonging to the industry.

 Contemporary issues in IR
1 .Low Wages.

 Low wages have been a perennial problem and have been a

source of industrial dispute for years despite the existence of
Payment of Wages Act and the Minimum Wages Act.

 The acts do not seem to be solving the problem due to their

poor implementation.

In many of the factories, workers are still given wages below

subsistence level, which leads to high degree of dissatisfaction
and subsequent decrease in productivity. In many industries,
the minimum wageshave not been revised at par
to compensate for it.
Employment of Women.

In the Indian cultural setup, the employment of women is

a major problem even though things have started
changing in the recent times.

There are special provisions regarding the employment of

women in the Factories Act, which prohibit employment of
women during the night shift and also on heavy
machinery. Under the Equal Remuneration Act, women
are entitled to equality of wages at par with the male
workers.

Some employers don't follow the above provisions in

letter and spirit and continue to exploit the women
workers by virtue of their strong position and because of
mass illiteracy and superstition among the women
workers.
 Contemporary issues in IR
Ignorance and illiteracy.

Various labour laws that have been

made for the benefit of the workers are
not implementing properly.
For this it is important that the
workers
themselves understand the underlying
principles and provisions of the law and
demand whatever is due to them.
Contemporary issues in IR
Industrial Housing. Another burning issue in
the industrial relations field is that of
accommodation to the industrial employees.

Here the problem is that the firms are not able

to provide accommodation to the employees
and further that the house rent allowance
(HRA) that they provide is not sufficient to
keep pace with the ever -rising demands of the
landlords
Contemporary issues in IR
Child Labour. The law requires that no child
below the age of 14 is allowed to work in any
factory and the adolescent is not allowed to work
in hazardous conditions.

The Supreme Court has passed a ruling strictly

prohibiting the employment of children in any
kind of factory. But still we can find instances of
violation of law.
Causes of industrial disputes
I. Economic Factors

WAGES

INCENTIVES

BENEFITS

WORKING CONDITIONS
Causes of industrial disputes
II. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICE

INEFFECTIVE SUPERVISION

VIOLATION OF AGREEMENTS
Causes of industrial disputes
III. TRADE UNION PRACTICES

 NON CO-OPERATIVE APPROACH

 INTER UNION RIVALRY.

Causes of industrial disputes
IV. LEGAL AND POLITICAL FACTORS.

MULTIPLICITY OF LABOUR LAWS.

POLITICAL INTERFERENCES.
Measures to Improve IR
Progressive Management out look
Strong & Stable Unions
Mutual Trust.
Mutual Accommodation
Sincere Implementation of Agreements
Workers participation in Management
Sound personnel policies
Government's Role.
 WHAT SKILLS DO HUMAN RESOURCE
AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
GRADUATES DEVELOP?

1. Communication skill.

The ability to communicate clearly and listen with respect
and understanding is a must for an HR/IR officer. He
should have the ability to communicate
effectively with the workers on behalf of the
management and present the issues or
requirements of the workers to the
management.
2.Critical thinking and conceptual skills

Critical thinking and conceptual skills

HR /IR
officershould learn to analyse, questio
n, evaluate and compare the
various frameworks they have studied
in relation to real world situations.
Knowledge of labour laws
A good HR/IR officer should
have thorough knowledge of
the labour laws , statutory
needs regarding labour and
employment.
 Proactive approach
A good HR/IR officer should be
always in touch with the feelings
of the workers, their problems,
their requirements etc. He should
always try to find out solutions for
the issues or settle the disputes at
the source itself.
Charecteristics of sound I.R system
1
 Every industrial relation system
has to take into account and reflect
cultural factors. Systems cannot
change culture but only behavior
within the cultural environment.
 2
A sound industrial relations system is one in which
the relationship between management and employees
and between them and the state are more
harmonious and cooperative than conflictual and
creates an environment conducive to economic
efficiency and motivation , productivity and
development of the employee and generates employee
loyalty and mutual trust
 3
Industrial relation seeks to balance the
economic efficiency of organizations with equity,
justice, and development of individual and to
find ways to avoid or reduce and resolve the
disputes and conflict and to promote
harmonious relationship between and among the
actors directly involved and society as a whole
 4
Industrial relation is again concerned with the rules
, procedures, and mechanisms through which the
relationship between employers and employees and
their respective representatives and the state and its
agencies is regulated.

The rules and procedures and mechanisms of an

Industrial relation system are found in sources such as
laws, practices, customs, agreements or through
directions from government.

 Industrial relation operates at
three levels
1 State level ,2) Industry level and ,3) Enterprise level

At national level industrial relation operates by

formulating laws, rules and labour relation policy.

At industry level IR takes the form of collective

bargaining between employer’s organizations and unions.

At the enterprises level IR acts as the interaction

between employers and workers or the representatives of
workers
 IMPORTANCE OF SOUND IDUSTRIAL
RELATION SYSTEM

A sound industrial relations climate is essential to

solve a number of issues which are critical to the
employers, employees, and the community. The
efficient production of goods and services depends to
an extent a sound industrial relation climate .
Efficiency and quality depend on a motivated
workforce for which a sound industrial relation
climate is necessary.
 2
 Without sound industrial relation climate,
productivity, a key factor of profitability cannot be
enhanced .Many mechanisms which contribute
towards productivity gains are workable only
where there is team work and cooperation.
Therefore sound labour management relations
should be maintained to create the climate
appropriate for achieving the cooperation which is
necessary for productivity growth.
 3
Labour management relation and labour
management cooperation are the
prerequisite for the adoption of changes
and for innovation. Here the authority is
decentralised, two-way communication ,
risk taking and maximising opportunities
are encouraged.
 4
A sound industrial relations climate helps to change
attitudes awareness and behaviour from counter
productivity to a productivity culture.

Sound industrial relation system brings up of good

labour relation which gives forum to understand each
other properly.
 5
Sound industrial relation system creates co-
operative thinking and working to achieve the
goal of the organization.

 Sound industrial relation system increases the

morale of the employees, the employer give their
maximum and each party think of their mutual
interest.
 6
Sound industrial relation system creates effective
participation of employees in all progressive
adoptions of technology and methods of
production.

 Sound industrial relation system creates

maximum work satisfaction which in turn
increases production ,quality of production and
efficiency of work.
 7

Sound industrial relation system helps

to avoid or reduce the number of
industrial disputes which may
otherwise causes for industrial unrest.
 REASONS FOR INDUSTRIAL UNREST

There may be external or internal factors which

creates labour unrest or industrial disputes .External
causes include policy changes labour laws, tax rules,
political changes , Technology changes, changes in the
attitude of governments ,change in market conditions
etc.

Internal causes include unfair labour practices, trade

union rivalry, new technology adoption ,change in
methods of production, new demands from
employees or trade unions ,loose disciplinary
mechanism etc
 Causes for industrial disputes
1. Perception regarding work- Employer think
 to extract maximum work with minimum
remuneration .Employees thinking is to avoid
work and get more pay and wages

2 Irrational wage system. Irrational wage ,

wage system, wage structure not mutually
acceptable.
 2
3.Poor working environment. Lack of safety measures
non hygienic working conditions etc

4.Lack of discipline If there is no strict measures

of control it may cause for labour problems

5.Automation and introduction of new technology.

Without proper consultation with the representatives
of workers will create labour problems.
 3
6.Nepotism,unequal work loads and responsibilities.
Affects the morale of employees and gradually it will
lead to labour problems.

7.Unfair labour practices. either by the employer or

employee or trade unions. creates labour problems

8.Inter union rivalries -Inter union competition for

membership foisting also creates labour unrest
 4
9. Disproportionate profit sharing- Unjustifiable and
disproportionate profit sharing among different
categories of employees

10. Ignoring agreements and settlements. When

management or trade unions back out from the
agreements and arrived settlements which have
been signed by both the parties .
 Thank You

Anujith KR
anujithkr@gmail.com