26-1 EXCEL BOOKS

Chapter

26

INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS AND
INDUSTRIAL
DISPUTES
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ANNOTATED OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION
The term ‘industrial relations’ refers to the collective relations
between employers and employees as a group. It underscores the
importance of compromise and accommodation in place of conflict
and controversy in resolving disputes between labour and
management.

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Industrial Relations: Features

 Employer-employee interactions
 Web of rules
 Multidimensional
 Dynamic and changing
 Spirit of compromise and accommodation
 Government's role
 Wide coverage
 Interactive and consultative in nature

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Major factors influencing industrial

relations
Industrial relations are influenced by various factors viz., institutional
factors, economic factors and technological factors.

1. Institutional factors: These factors include government policy,

labour legislation, voluntary courts, collective agreements, employee
courts, employers’ federations, social institutions like community,
caste, joint family, creed, system of beliefs, attitudes of workers,
system of power, status, etc.

2. Economic factors: These factors include economic

organisations, like capitalist, communist, mixed, etc., the structure of
labour force, demand for and supply of labour force, etc..

3. Technological factors: These factors include mechanisation,

automation, rationalisation, computerisation etc.

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Industrial relations: major influences

G o v e rn m e n t R u le s ,
A w a rd s , P o lic ie s

E m p lo y e r E m p lo y e e s

In d u s tria l
R e la tio n s

E m p lo y e r s ’ T r a d e U n io n s
A s s o c ia tio n s
U s a g e s , c u s t o m e r s , t r a d it io n s w ith in
a c o u n try

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Objectives of industrial relations

Enhance the economic position of the worker

 Minimise conflicts and to the extent possible, avoid conflicts and
their negative consequences
 Allow workers to have a say in important decisions affecting
their lives
 Resolve knotty issues through consultation and negotiation
 Encourage and develop trade unions in order to improve the
workers' collective strength
 Pave the way for industrial democracy.

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Approaches To Industrial Relations

There are five approaches to study industrial relations, namely:

 Psychological approach

 Sociological approach

 Human relations approach

 Giri's approach

 Gandhian approach

 HRD approach

The HRD approach recognises employees as invaluable assets in an

organisation and emphasizes that they can be developed to an
unlimited extent with proper incentives, atmosphere and treatment.

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Basic assumptions of Industrial

Relations and HRD
In d u s tr ia l R e la tio n s HRD

E m p lo y e e - e m p l o y e r r e la t io n s a r e c o n t r a c t u a l
a n d e n v e lo p e d b y e c o n o m ic f a c t o r s
T h e e m p h a s i s is o n e x t r in s i c
re w a rd s
T h e f o c u s is n o t o n d e v e lo p i n g
t h e e m p lo y e e .
P h i lo s o p h y E m p lo y e r - e m p lo y e e r e la t io n s s h o u ld b e b a s e d
R e w a rd s o n tr u s t , u n d e r s ta n d in g a n d o p e n n e s s
In tr in s ic r e w a r d s s p u r p e o p le to
s u p e rio r p e rfo rm a n c e
Focus D e v e lo p t h e e m p lo y e e t h r o u g h H R D in it ia t iv e s :
c a r i n g , c o u n s e lli n g , m e n t o r in g , h e lp in g , c o a c h in g .

F o llo w t h e c o d e b o o k a n d p u t o u t O r ie n ta t io n P r e v e n t i v e , c o l la b o r a t iv e a p p r o a c h
th e fir e s a s q u ic k ly a s y o u c a n w h e r e r e la t i o n s m a t t e r m o s t a n d n o t r u le s .

P lu r a lis t N a tu r e o f R e la tio n s U n ita r is t

M a n a g e r i a l ta s k v is - a - v is la b o u r M o n ito rin g N u r t u r in g , c a r in g , h e lp f u l

I n s t it u t io n a lis e d , u n h e a lt h y a n d i s a t t h e c o r e o f C o n flic t C o n f lic t c o u ld b e fu n c t io n a l, s t im u la t i n g a n d h e a lt h y

in d u s t r ia l r e la t io n s , r e a c h t e m p o r a r y t r u c e s i f u s e d p r o p e r l y ; m a n a g e c lim a t e a n d c u lt u r e .

R e s t r ic t e d f l o w C o m m u n ic a t io n In c r e a s e d flo w
D iv is io n o f la b o u r J o b d e s ig n T e a m w o rk
N e g o tia tio n M a n a g e r i a l s k ill s F a c ili ta t io n

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Sound Industrial Relations:

Importance and essential conditions

Sound industrial relations are essential for ensuring industrial peace and
improved productivity. Cordial labour management relations enable the
employer to secure cooperation and commitment from employees quite
easily. It is not, however, easy to promote and maintain sound industrial
relations. Certain conditions should exist for the maintenance of harmonious
industrial relations:
 Existence of strong, well organised and democratic employees' unions
 Existence of sound and organised employers' unions
 Spirit of collective bargaining and willingness to resort to voluntary
negotiations
 Maintenance of industrial peace
 Establish machinery for prevention and settlement of disputes
 Provision for bipartite and tripartite committees to evolve proper
personnel policies
 Establish committees to evaluate collective bargaining agreements
 Create proper legal mechanisms to settle disputes quickly and easily.

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Industrial Conflict: Forms And Causes

Industrial conflicts constitute militant and organised protests against

existing industrial conditions. They are symptoms of industrial unrest.
The term ‘industrial dispute’ as described in the Industrial Disputes
Act, 1947 is characterised by the following features

Features of the term ‘industrial

dispute’
 There should be a difference or dispute
 The dispute could be between employer-employer, employee-employee or
employer-employee
 The dispute must pertain to some work-related issue
 The dispute must be raised by a group or class of workers. For example the
dispute between one or two workers and the respective employer is not an industrial
dispute

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Forms of Industrial Disputes

Strikes: These are collective stoppages of work by workers.

 Sympathetic strike
 General strike
 Unofficial strike
 Sectional strike
 Bumper strike
 Sit down strike
 Slow down strike
 Lightning strike
 Hunger strike

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Forms of Industrial Disputes

 Lock outs: Closing down of an undertaking or the suspension of

work or the refusal of an employer to continue to employ any
number of persons employed by him is known as 'lock out'.
 Gherao: Gherao means to surround. In this method, a group of
workers initiate collective action aimed at preventing members of
the management from leaving the office.
 Picketing and Boycott: When picketing workers often carry or
display signs, banners and placards, prevent others from entering
the place of work and persuade others to join the strike. Boycott
aims at disrupting the normal functioning of an enterprise.

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Causes of Industrial Disputes

 Employment-related
 Nationalisation
 Administration-related
 Recognition as a bargaining agent
 Sympathetic strikes
 Psychological and social issues
 Institutional causes
 Political causes

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Machinery For The Settlement of

Industrial Disputes In India
When the relationship between the parties is not cordial, discontentment
develops and conflicts erupt abruptly. It is not always easy to put out the
fires with the existing dispute-settlement machinery, created by the
government. Hence both labour and management must appreciate the
importance of openness, trust and collaboration their day-to-day dealings.

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Machinery for Prevention and

Settlement of Industrial Disputes
M a c h in e r y f o r p r e v e n t io n a n d s e t t l e m e n t o f d is p u t e s

V o lu n ta r y M e th o d s G o v e r n m e n t M a c h in e r y  
S ta tu to ry M e a s u re s

S ta te A c ts
I n d u s t r ia l D is p u t e s A c t , 1 9 4 7
 C o ll e c t i v e B a r g a i n i n g Labour A d m in is t r a t io n  W o rk s C o m m itte e s
M a c h in e r y
 T r a d e U n io n s  C o n c ilia t io n
 S ta te L e v e l
 J o in t c o n s u lta tio n s (A ) C . O f f ic e r
 C e n tr a l L e v e l (B ) C . B o a rd
 S ta n d in g O r d e r s
 A r b it r a tio n
 G r ie v a n c e P r o c e d u r e
 A d j u d ic a t io n
 C o d e o f D is c ip li n e
(a ) L a b o u r C o u rts
(b ) I n d u s tr i a l T r ib u n a ls
(c ) N a t i o n a l T r ib u n a l s

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Machinery For The Settlement of

Industrial Disputes In India
 Works committees: As per the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, works
committees have to be set up all those industrial units which employ 100 or
more persons. It is basically a consultative body
 Giving greater participation to workers
 Ensuring close interaction between labour and management
 Generating cooperative atmosphere for negotiation between
parties
 Opening the doors to unions to have a clear view of what is going
on within the unit
 Strengthening the spirit of voluntary settlement of disputes
 Joint Management Councils: The JMC normally consists of equal
number of representatives of workers and employers looking after three
things: information sharing, consultative and administrative matters relating
to welfare, safety, training etc and the formulation of standing orders.(of
course, without encroaching on the jurisdiction of works committees)

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Machinery For The Settlement of

Industrial Disputes In India
 Standing orders: These are the rules and regulations which
govern the conditions of employment of workers. The Industrial
Employment (standing orders) Act of 1946 provides for the framing of
standing orders in all industrial undertakings employing 100 or more
workers.
 Grievance procedure: A model grievance procedure as suggested by
the Indian Labour Conference, 1958 has more or less been widely
accepted in India now.
 Code of discipline: It consists of a set of self-imposed obligations
voluntarily formulated by the central organisation of workers and
employers.

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Industrial Disputes: Settlement

Machinery
 Conciliation: The practice by which the services of a neutral third party
are used in a dispute as a means of helping the disputing parties to reduce
the extent of their differences and to arrive at an amicable settlement or
agreed solution.
 Conciliation officer: an authority appointed by the government to
mediate disputes between parties brought to his notice; enjoying the
powers of a civil court. He is supposed to give judgement within 14 days
of the commencement of the conciliation proceedings.
 Board of conciliation: The Board is an adhoc, tripartite body having
the powers of a civil court created for a specific dispute(when the
conciliation officer fails to resolve disputes within a time frame, the board is
appointed)
 Court of enquiry: In case the conciliation proceedings fail to resolve a
dispute, a court of enquiry is constituted by the government to
investigate the dispute and submit the report within six months.

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Machinery For The Settlement of

Industrial Disputes In India
 Voluntary arbitration: It is he process in which the disputing parties
show willingness to go to an arbitrator (a third party) and submit to his
decision voluntarily.
 Adjudication: It is the process of settling disputes compulsorily
through the intervention of a third party appointed by the Government.
The Industrial Disputes Act provides a three-tier adjudication machinery
consisting of:
 Labour court
 Industrial tribunal
 National tribunal

Industrial Relations And Industrial Disputes